The Inescapable Attachment Hypothesis
by Syrus
Summary: A story showing how even the most hardheaded of people can change when given a good enough reason.  Penny/Sheldon, goes slightly AU after the panty piñata polarization.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

He could not understand it. He long conceded that many things Penny did were incomprehensible, but this was getting ridiculous. It was Penny that had the gall to touch his food and then sit in his spot, so why would Leonard want him to apologize?

Preposterous! He would most definitely do no such thing. On possibly touching his food at the Cheesecake Factory and then interfering with his laundry night, the bar in their confrontation had been raised, so he similarly upped his retaliation. It mattered not to him that Penny's unmentionables ended up on a twenty five foot tall clothes line, as it was the due consequence of her actions.

It was this certainty that made the strange sinking in his gut quite curious and unexplainable on seeing her reaction to his latest move in their back and forth. It was already gracious of him to be willing accept an apology from her, given her latest infractions, so he wasn't sure what else to do in this situation.

And, he never was one to give up on something when he knew he was in the right. This was the reason he refused to give Penny any ground in her attempt to compromise after finding her clothes on the telephone wires. But, really, his sinking feeling returned when he found his mother calling him to scold him over his completely logical behavior. He knew that Leonard must have had something to do with this, but he could not accuse him without the proof. He would let that go, for the time being.

All right, he would concede. Maybe it wasn't completely logical after all. Perhaps…he had overstepped his bounds with this move. He shuffled uncomfortably over the next evening to Penny's apartment to apologize, as per his mother's order, but, deep down, he realized that this was the right thing to do. Not that he would admit it to anyone.

He knocked in his usual way at her door, though he was noticeably less vociferous, and waited for her to answer. When she did, he apologized to her the way his mother wanted him to, and to show that he meant it, he also rescinded her strikes and allowed her back to his apartment. It was far more than he would have done for anyone else, so he dearly hoped that she understood the significance.

As she accepted his apology, he just stared at the floor. He was no good in situations like this, especially when it was he having to apologize for something that he didn't know was wrong. Well, at least for the most part. He probably wouldn't have tacked on his evil cackle to Penny and Leonard's reactions to his stunt with her clothing if he didn't.

But now, he just stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say next after she complimented his step on attempting to repair their friendship, still looking at the floor. He was about to say good bye so that he could continue with his day's routine, but he stiffened and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw her leaning in close to him and planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

She smiled when she saw the look on his face, and then said, "Good night, Sheldon."

But he was rooted to the spot. He couldn't move himself, still stuck on the sensation that her lips on his cheek left. It was most curious, as he was sure he'd never felt anything like it before, and when he raised his wide eyes to look at her, he finally knew what it felt like to figuratively have your heart beating in your throat.

She looked back at him, and though Sheldon was no expert on reading people's expressions, he had the distinct impression that she had the same feeling. In addition to his elevated heart rate, he suddenly realized he was having trouble breathing. Before he could even wonder if somehow his throat way had gotten constricted, she was moving forward again, this time to meet his lips with her own.

He made a rather undignified kind of squeak and froze completely. He was certain that this was most unusual behavior between friends, but he was not completely certain how interactions in male-female friendships were to differ from male-male friendships, as Penny was admittedly his only female friend.

That, and the fact that his lips were tingling in an admittedly pleasant way from the contact. Not knowing what else to do, he held still in that awkwardly stiff position until his breath ran out, and then he pulled away to gasp for air and say in shock, "P-Penny!"

She then looked back at him in shock, as if she just realized what had happened, and as she answered, she'd flushed completely red, "Oh, Sheldon, I-I didn't mean— "

Sheldon just staggered backwards from her, his eyes still completely wide in shock, blinking at her silently, trying so hard not to be as flabbergasted by this as he was, and failing completely. When he could finally breathe again, he blinked one more time at her and said, "Good night, Penny."

He didn't even wait for her response as he turned and hightailed it back to his own apartment, quickly shutting the door behind him. Leonard caught the look on his face and just raised an eyebrow at him, and cautiously asked, "So, how'd it go?"

Sheldon didn't say anything for a long moment, and just blinked for a second before he said, "It went satisfactorily. Good night, Leonard."

"Isn't it a little earlier than you usually – " he started saying in confusion.

"Good night." Sheldon repeated a little pointedly, his look turning a little more harsh.

"Okay, good night." Leonard said, throwing up his hands and shaking his head.

Sheldon didn't stick around in the living room, just moving straight to his bedroom. After changing into the appropriate pajamas for this day of the week, he found that he could not sleep. He could only replay that moment with Penny over and over in his mind. What did it mean? Why did she do that? He simply couldn't figure it out.

Penny's behavior was often too illogical and random to apply any sort of algorithm to it to predict or explain the reasoning behind it, so he was absolutely stumped. He was even more troubled by how the actions made him feel. Feel…now that was something he didn't find himself thinking about very often. It was a pleasant sensation, which is why he didn't pull away from her much faster than he did.

Did these actions forever change their relationship as he understood it? Or were they to acknowledge this change, whatever it was, the next time they saw each other? This uncertainty gnawed at him until he fell into a fitful sleep.

Sheldon paced around his room. It was Chinese food night, and this night was one when Penny always came over and ate with them. How would he get through this night? He was no good at keeping secrets, but he knew that he couldn't tell anyone about what happened. He even wished that he could forget about it.

Life was so much simpler without such a complication. Why did Leonard, Howard, and Raj want to find a female companion so badly? It seemed to add unnecessary complications to life. He was not even in a relationship with Penny, and it was already complicating things.

But, what if Penny now thought that they were? What if she made gestures toward him that would imply as such in front of everyone? Sheldon paced a little faster and made a small noise of anxiousness and helplessness. He could not control what others did, even if he wished he could with his mind.

"Sheldon, I'm back." He heard Leonard's voice from the living room and he let out a breath of frustration.

He could not avoid this, no matter how much he wanted to. He would have to make the appropriate responses to any possible actions Penny may take regarding their changed relationship when they came. He hated going into a situation unprepared, but his hand was forced. He then walked out of his room to join Leonard outside and he counted down minutes to Penny's arrival and his subsequent embarrassment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"I absolutely disagree, Raj. I do not believe that the integrity of the story in the latest Star Trek movie was affected by the absence of William Shatner." Sheldon said, pursing his lips together in his usual argumentative way.

"Oh, shut up, Sheldon. You're only saying that because you're obsessed with Leonard Nimoy and Spock." Raj replied, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I am not obsessed. I just respect Leonard Nimoy a great deal for creating such a fascinating and respectable character for us to love and cherish for years to come. I respect Zachary Quinto for attempting to fill Nimoy's shoes, and though he did an admirable job on his interpretation of the character, I feel that Nimoy has just set the bar too high to actually be reached by anyone else." Sheldon said, one of his tiny smug smiles coming to his face, feeling as though he'd made an unarguable point.

Leonard finally shook his head and said, "Let it go, Raj. You know we're going to have to live with his Leonard Nimoy clones one day."

While Sheldon just gave Leonard a customary glare for sarcastic comments, Raj and Howard just nodded their heads.

"I will have you know that I do not yet have a — " Sheldon started out on his usual response rant to sarcasm at his expense, but he abruptly stopped mid sentence when Penny made her way into the door.

She smiled at all of them, though a slight blush seemed to color her cheeks when her eyes settled on him, and she took a seat across from him in a chair as she took her usual share of the food, and said, "How's it going?"

Usually it was Sheldon that informed her of at least the last hour of discussion, where he wanted to reaffirm how he was the winner of the discussion, but this night, he was absolutely silent, and he looked pointedly at the food he was eating. Yes, he was absolutely horrible at keeping secrets, but if he took a vow of silence, then no one would be able to get it out of him. This may grant him temporary security, but he yet had to come up with a plan for his uncertain future around Penny.

This earned him strange looks from the rest of the guys, but he still said nothing. On glancing at Penny, it seemed that his silence just served to make her more nervous.

Of course, Howard decided to take this chance to speak in the smarmy tone he used to pick up girls, compounding his sentence with a suggestive eyebrow raised, "We're actually doing fine, though I know I could be doing much better if I was taking you out to dinner next week."

Penny then glared at him the way she always did and said dryly, "Not even if you were the last living thing on this planet, Howard."

Leonard shook his head and said, "So, Penny…how are those acting classes going?"

Penny then grinned at Leonard and said, "It's going great! The teacher got me a role at a local theater. I'd love it if you all could come!"

Howard then spoke up, "I wouldn't mind running lines with you in a one on one practice, if you know what I mean?"

Sheldon quickly recognized the glower on Penny's face to be one she usually wore as she contemplated kicking Howard in the reproductive organs for his customary curious comments toward her, and for him to keep attempting to seduce her when all she gave him were continual rejections, it seemed like a fruitless endeavor that, quite frankly, got on Sheldon's nerves.

Leonard quickly broke up the almost fight by smiling at her, and saying, "Of course, Penny…we'd love to come."

Penny then smiled in response, and at that time, her eyes turned from Leonard to him. Sheldon quickly looked away from her and down at his food again. He had to keep this secret, he could not speak with others until she had left, since he was sure it would burst out of him otherwise. His cheek twitched slightly at the thought.

But he didn't miss her slight frown at him continually avoiding eye contact with her and conversation with everyone. Curious that his lack of interaction with her would induce such a mood in her. Though, as time wore on, the interactions became rather stale and repetitive, since neither he nor Raj were speaking. While Raj, at times, whispered his comments to Howard to tell everyone, Sheldon still was completely quiet.

This left mostly Leonard and Howard speaking, which resulted in conversation unevenly balanced between bad pick up lines from Howard, and awkward topics of conversation from Leonard. Penny looked at Sheldon a few more times, but he only looked at her from the corner of his eye. Of course it didn't bother him that she seemed slightly sad that he wasn't saying anything by this point. Naturally, his point of view in a conversation would be sorely missed, as he always had unique insight into most topics they spoke about.

It had nothing to do with the slight frown that was on her face as she looked straight at him as she replied to Leonard's weak conversation starters. Raj whispered to Howard again, to which he whispered back, "I don't know why Sheldon's acting like you today."

Howard rolled his eyes in Sheldon's general direction and added, "Let's just hope whatever it is, isn't catching."

Sheldon just then glared at Howard, wanting to reply with how ridiculous it was to suggest that a psychosomatic repression of speech around women was in any way, shape, or form contagious, but he was quickly distracted by Penny suddenly standing from where she was sitting, still looking at Sheldon for a moment before turning to Leonard, "It was fun, but I think I should turn in."

"Oh, but it's only nine o'clock! We still have our Star Trek, the original series, marathon coming up!" he said, standing also, and attempting to get her to stay.

"I'd love to, but I've got work early tomorrow. It was fun, thanks for having me." She replied, turning him down gently.

With one last glance at Sheldon, she walked toward the door. But, before she got there, she just glared at Howard, pointing and saying, "You, fall in a ditch."

Then she walked out, and Howard called after her in his usual amused tone, "Call me!"

When she left, they suddenly all glared at Sheldon, and Leonard spoke up, "Okay, just what did you do now?"

Sheldon just sputtered, and his face twitched on realizing his secret was in danger of being found out, "I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything when I went to apologize to her two nights ago at 7:45 pm."

He decided that was okay to say, since that wasn't really a lie. After all, it was her who initiated the kisses.

Leonard just looked at him suspiciously and then rolled his eyes, replying, "Okay, I know you're trying to keep a secret, so I'll just assume the apology didn't go well."

To this, Sheldon said nothing. Vow of silence. He could do this. Though he didn't crack, his face twitched again.

Leonard just made an annoyed sound and said, "I'm going to check if she's okay. No thanks to you, Sheldon."

He got up from where he was sitting, and then left the apartment for Penny's. At this time, Raj finally speaks up and says, "Dude, seriously…what did you do?"

Sheldon then turned his glare to Raj and replied as though he was under strain, which he was, as this secret keeping was very hard, speaking in a rush, "I didn't do anything! It was Penny that did something!"

He then gasped and covered his mouth with both hands. He'd failed. Before the shock of his secret keeping failure could really wash over him, Howard spoke sarcastically, "What'd she do? Inform you that Aquaman isn't a real superhero? Which he isn't, by the way."

Sheldon's glare intensified some more when that made Raj laugh, and then his voice got more quiet and unsure as he answered, "She said nothing of the sort. She…accepted my apology."

Sheldon's voice got even more quiet as he continued to speak, now sounding down right conspiratorial, "She…kissed me."

Raj and Howard could only stare at him for a long moment at his words, and finally Howard blinked and said, "She kissed you? Apparently she's into robots. I'll keep this in mind."

Raj then smiled and reached across Howard to give Sheldon a playful punch to the shoulder, and say, "You lucky dog. But why weren't you even looking at her today? Did she not like it? Did you not like it?"

Sheldon was speechless for a moment. He realized that it did cause a pleasant sensation in him to feel her lips against his. He would have to take this to mean that he did appreciate the gesture from Penny, though illogical and completely unexpected on his part. But, feelings? He thought he was above this sort of frivolity, he thought, as the next evolved form of human, he had grown past such things, but quite possibly, those had been delusions of grandeur that were brought crashing down by the soft press of Penny's lips on his.

"I…" he finally began to answer, but it was at this time that Leonard walked back into the apartment.

Everyone there fell into an awkward silence at that, and they turned their eyes to Leonard. Sheldon had partly broken his vow of silence, but he hoped that he'd be able to keep it from Leonard a little longer. He knew his best friend would not much appreciate learning of these happenings between he and Penny, so until he knew of the reason behind her actions, and her plan of how to proceed next, he could not let him find out.

Thankfully, Howard and Raj had a little sense and also kept silent about it. Instead, Raj said, "So, what was going on with Penny?"

"Oh, she told me that she thought that she'd gotten one of her friends mad at her and when I asked whether it had anything to do with what happened with you two, she just kept insisting everything was fine. Maybe it wasn't you after all, Sheldon." Leonard said, speaking sympathetically toward Penny and slightly apologetically toward Sheldon, though he rolled his eyes and added, "Even if you were acting completely weird toward her tonight."

Now Sheldon said nothing for a long moment, feeling a little guilty for making her feel as though he was angry or upset with her, when that was far from the case. No, she'd just made him confused and cause every conclusion he'd made about relationships to be tossed into a pile of burning wreckage. He knew he would have to speak to her at a later time.

But, for now, he would let Star Trek, the original series, soothe him, and make him forget his troubles for a few brief hours.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

His avoidance of Penny continued for a few more days as he further processed the information. Not knowing was getting to be unbearable, and this is what caused him to wait until Leonard was asleep that night before sneaking out in his pajamas, really wishing that he could keep his bedroom clothes where they belonged, but it would cause an unnecessary waste of time to change back into the clothes he was wearing previously. He didn't much like wearing already worn clothes either, so it wasn't too hard a decision to make.

He padded softly across the hall to her apartment and then knocked quietly on the door in his special way, waiting for her to answer. When she opened the door, she seemed surprised to see him. He supposed he couldn't blame her...he wasn't one to make visits past nine o'clock, as it interfered with his sleep schedule too much.

But now, this issue was far more important, as it robbed him of sleep even when he lay in his own bed. His internal monologue was finally interrupted when she gave him a strange look and said, "Sheldon, honey, is everything alright?"

"No, everything is not 'alright.' I need to speak to you." he said resolutely, giving her a hard look.

It seemed even Penny had learned that one just couldn't argue with the look, so she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Okay, come on in."

She invited him to take a seat next to her on the couch and then waited for him to speak. This was certainly an atypical happening in their interactions, with her being so ready and willing to listen.

Somehow, this observation seemed to make him more nervous, an emotion he'd learned to identify from the way his gut felt like it was twisting over itself. He did not experience such sensations that often, so it was easy to document their occurrences in his mind.

Taking a deep breath, he willed himself to speak, "I need to speak with you about our interaction five days ago."

At this time, Penny let out a frustrated groan at his words, and softly replied, "Hey, I'm sorry about that, okay? I don't know what I was thinking."

He blinked at her and then said softly, "It resulted in a series of new and fascinating sensations that I never have felt before."

It was her turn to blink at him, and after a moment of working his statement through her head, she said, "Wait. Are you saying you liked it?"

Sheldon really wasn't good at picking up tonal cues that implied the intent behind a message, but from his limited research on interactions he had, he might have detected the slightest bit of hope in Penny's statement. Interesting…did she hope that he reacted positively to her unexpected action five days ago?

"As the sensation the action produced in me was a positive one, I suppose I could say that I liked it." Sheldon replied, his voice thoughtful.

He saw her smile at that, and, for some inexplicable reason, it caused some of the tension in the air between them dissipate. Then a slightly confused look came to Penny's face as she then asked, "So why were you so quiet at dinner? I thought you were mad at me."

"I was not angry at you, Penny. Your unexpected action five days ago shocked me, as I was unprepared to cope with these unusual sensations it caused. I was not sure how to react and then how to anticipate our next interaction. This is something I do not like." He said with a nod, looking at her very seriously.

Then she laughed, startling him slightly. But when he was finished being startled, an unbidden warmth spread through him at the sound. Curious indeed.

"So, you ignored me because you didn't know what to do around me? You are so cute!" she giggled and reached forward and lightly touched his hand.

He flinched slightly when she touched him, since he didn't usually do touching, but after that, he didn't feel as strong an impulse to pull away this time. He met eyes with her, and felt his heart rate rising again. He had to check on whether this kind of arrhythmia was normal in cases such as this.

He felt her squeeze the hand she was touching softly and spoke with part amusement as her face reddened slightly, "I liked it, too. Surprisingly."

Her touch was sending that same pleasant sensation up his arm that he felt in his lips when she'd kissed him, and he found it to be significantly distracting. He blinked one more time to focus his mind and then he tilted his head at her in a confused manner to state, "Penny, I assumed that you were interested in Leonard, as you had attended what I had thought to be a romantic evening with him."

"Uhh…yeah." Her voice seemed to turn a little embarrassed as he asked her about this topic, and she continued, "I guess I was interested, but…I don't know. Even if the date itself wasn't horrible, it just felt like…something was missing, I guess?"

"Something?" Sheldon blinked at just how uncertain her explanation was, leaving him almost more confused about her thoughts and intentions than he was before she had spoken, "And you felt as though you would find this 'something' through your obviously unplanned and spontaneous interaction with me?"

At this, Penny just shook her head in what seemed to be amused disbelief, and said, "You know, I hadn't actually thought that far ahead. But, now that you mention it..."

Her look then got a little more serious as she moved closer to him, and her proximity made some of the tension that had dissipated earlier to return. Sheldon just looked at her questioningly, and his eyes widened again when she gave him a little smile that made a shiver of something travel down his spine.

In nervousness, anticipation, embarrassment? He wasn't sure of any of this, but it was obvious that he should document all of these strange reactions later for further study.

Finally, she spoke again, her voice now quiet as she added, "Why don't we try again to find out?"

At least this time she had given him fair warning, though he was still largely without a plan of action. When she leaned forward this time, he thought to let his eyes flutter closed, finding that relaxing a slight bit more caused the moment their lips touched this time to send a stronger pulse of emotion through him.

He really wasn't sure why he was engaging in such an activity with her since the experiment was so poorly constructed and her variable of interest, this 'something,' was so unclearly defined. But, this time, as he was given at least slight warning of her intent before she moved, he shockingly felt a little more comfortable.

But it was then she who unexpectedly moved again, raising a hand to softly touch his cheek as they kissed. He stiffened up once more, and thankfully instead of squeaking this time, he just gasped in surprise.

She appeared to smile against his lips at that, and once again they held the kiss until their breath ran out. This mouth to mouth kissing seemed like such an inherently unsanitary activity that would ease the passage of pathogens between individuals, but he realized if he didn't have to breathe, surely his lips would still be pressed against hers. He found this observation to be vaguely disturbing, but he couldn't think on this long, since he found Penny to be giving him a soft smile when she finally pulled back.

He found that his heart rate was still rather elevated as she distanced herself slightly, and his breath was definitely a little deeper. They both were silent for a long moment, and Sheldon was certain he'd discharged his duty here by informing her that he was not angry at her at all. Though, he strangely didn't want to leave. It was extremely peculiar behavior on his part, since he never usually prolonged interactions with people without purpose.

He also now realized that she had not let go of his other hand during the kiss, and she took this opportunity to give it another squeeze. It was true that he felt absolutely like a fish out of water in a situation like this, so for this reason, he fidgeted slightly as he sat beside her, not knowing what to do or say.

Did she expect him to kiss her again? To do something more? Or was it time for him to leave now? He'd just barely begun to get friendship down to a science. Now this was a whole different ballpark that would need a completely different algorithm. But it was Penny. She and logic seemed to repel each other like similarly charged magnets.

"Penny…" he finally said softly, just wanting to fill the silence between them, wishing there was some way he could understand what was happening between the two of them better, but this was obviously something that he could only learn while he was doing it.

He watched her take a deep breath, and then she gave him a small smile as she spoke unsurely, "I…this…I never expected anything like this to happen with you."

It was the most logical thing she'd said or done since he'd arrived at her apartment, so he had to nod and say, "Likewise. I never expected for my sleep schedule and my social interactions to be so disrupted by a single action on your part."

She reddened slightly again as she shook her head at him in amusement to of his reply, and then spoke, starting out more nervous and then ending with a teasing tone, "Well, even if I didn't expect it…I'd sorta like to see where this could go. You know, even if it might partly be out of morbid curiosity."

He then scrunched his eyebrows in thought at her words and then said, "So, you wish to continue these interactions between us to ascertain whether I can provide you with this 'something' that Leonard was unable to?"

She was still amused, but she gave him a bit of a strange look as she replied, "Not exactly the way I would have put it, but I guess that'd be the idea."

Sheldon then seemed a little more confused as he said, "Does this mean we are no longer just friends? I know that I would not engage in these activities with any other people I consider 'friends,' such as Leonard, Wolowitz, or Koothrapali."

With another strange look at him, and a slightly uncomfortable laugh, she said, "I'd hope not."

It finally struck him how to recategorize their relationship, especially since Penny seemed determined to investigate her theory of this 'something' lying with him. He would not stop her since, as hard as it was to admit to himself, he had a hand of his own curiosity in this. Would he feel Penny's 'something' as well? As any scientist, he was ready to jump into the unknown to find the answer, even if it meant that he might find himself in situations he was unused to.

"Penny…would this then make us friends with benefits? If I am understanding our new relationship correctly, we are engaging in non-platonic activities on a variable basis in the effort of finding if 'something' is between us. As it would be unwise of us to preemptively assume we have 'something,' we should not recategorize our relationship as a couple. Since we do not want to remove the friendship aspect from our relationship completely, and instead just want to add on these activities on occasion, I felt as though 'friends with benefits' would be a much more fitting title." He spoke, looking off in the distance as he pondered the parameters of this experiment.

He wasn't even considering the reasons why he wanted to participate in an experiment of such an inexact science, but the pleasant sensations from her touch secretly had a part in it. Above all, he wanted to normalize what was happening to him, since he wasn't one to do well with surprises and things unexpected in his life. Everything had to follow a schedule or fit in a pattern, or he wouldn't be able to easily deal with it.

Penny's actions did anything but that, and so he hoped by approaching these happenings through the stability of an experiment, it would let him come into them feeling more prepared. That was something he did like very much.

Though, at his words, she blinked for a second, and then laughed, saying, "Honey, whatever you just said. If that's what you want to call it, sure."

Sheldon nodded, happy that she seemed to be agreeing with him for once. He knew though, like all good things, it wouldn't last for long, so he figured he should cut his losses this time while he was ahead. With this, he carefully took his hand back from her and stood up from her couch.

"I usually require eight hours of sleep, of which now I will only be getting six and a half." He fidgeted again in place, wanting to begin to leave, but not knowing if it was socially acceptable to.

She smiled at him again, now a bright grin that seemed to light up her face, and she said, "Yeah, we should both get to sleep."

She walked him to her door and then softly opened it for him, adding in a quiet tone, "Good night, Sheldon."

He met eyes with her one more time, and replied just as quietly, "Good night, Penny."

Before he could scurry away, she braced a hand at the back of his neck and then gave him one more soft kiss. He was getting a little more used to this; the urge to stiffen and squeak when touched unexpectedly was reducing with this repeated exposure. She gave him one last smile as he then turned to move quietly into his own apartment, not wanting to wake Leonard.

In spite of him feeling nervous and even slightly excited over this experiment that would take him out of his comfort zone, he was slightly concerned over what it would make Leonard think or feel. He hadn't let many people into his life, and so he wasn't sure he would be able to stand having his best friend and roommate being upset or angry at him.

Padding softly back to his room, and then into bed, he closed his eyes, finally being able to relax enough to fall into sleep. There was still the chance that this experiment would not be a success. If that turned out to be the case, then telling Leonard something that would obviously make him unhappy would be completely useless. He would wait until the time was right, and when he had more data to support his conclusion.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After he and Penny redefined the parameters of their relationship, their interactions approached what had been normal before, though he found that she started to smile just a little brighter at him and found excuses to lightly touch his hands, shoulders, or back in ways she hadn't before. Nothing that would reveal their relationship change…just light, feather-like brushes that sent that same rush down his spine.

Every time it happened though, he noticed Howard and Raj whispering, and nudging each other, and grinning at him in what he was sure was a teasing fashion. Unlike Leonard, they knew exactly what was going on here, and so every time he tried glaring at them, even if he knew it would have little effect on them. He had yet to perfect his mind control technique.

After one such meeting, Howard and Raj made their way out with Howard giving him a wink that he absolutely did not appreciate, and then he and Leonard were saying their good byes to Penny. Sheldon reached toward the door to open it for her and she reached for it at the same time, causing their fingers to brush. From the smile she gave him on walking out, he was sure she'd done it on purpose.

He actually didn't mind. These touches were actually quite fascinating, since the sensations he received appeared to be directly proportional to the pressure with which they were applied. He now just had to take note on whether the sensations changed also based on the area where they were applied. He mused on this as he cleaned the dishes from his dinner, but was suddenly interrupted by Leonard speaking.

"Sheldon, I think I want to try asking Penny out again."

He quickly finished drying a dish he'd finished with and felt a completely new sensation that he'd never felt in conjunction to a relationship before. It was possible that he was feeling something akin to jealousy. Interesting...he would have to note this down later in his journal. If Penny was not going to document her own experiment, then the responsibility fell on him.

But, for now, Leonard required some feedback, "And why would you do that when your last attempt was a failure?"

Leonard shook his head and muttered, "Thanks for the support."

But then he added in a louder tone, "I was thinking that Penny would like it if I showed a little initiative."

Sheldon just looked at Leonard in that almost blank but still critical kind of way, and replied, "I believe that your chance for success in this endeavor would be less than 10% if past precedence is anything to fall back on."

"Why so low?" Leonard replied indignantly with his hands on his hips.

"The chance of success in an endeavor cannot improve just through the act of wishing it so, Leonard. If that were true, you'd have won a Nobel prize already, and I'd be able to fly." Sheldon just returned dryly.

Leonard just rolled his eyes at that, and then grumbled, "How do you know my chances would be so low if I tried again now, anyway?"

Now that question suddenly caused his face to twitch. The secret could not so easily be kept now that he'd spoken to Penny of his own accord and reached a mutual agreement of the change in their relationship. He could not say that it was only she who made actions toward him. It was true that he did not initiate any of these non-platonic interactions himself, but the fact that he was now cognizant of them, and was still allowing them, made it very difficult for him to side step any questioning Leonard might have for him.

This, and the fact that their whole experiment was rooted in the idea that he might provide Penny with 'something' that Leonard could not. This was the greatest factor that had caused him to give Leonard the low odds when asked. The jealousy, of course, had nothing to do with his strictly scientific conclusion.

Unfortunately, Leonard caught the face twitch, and that caused him to regard Sheldon suspiciously as he said, "Hey, wait. Do you know something you're not telling me?"

With another facial twitch out of his control, he replied under some strain, "I know many things that you do not, Leonard. It would be useless to list them all off blindly, especially since most of them would be out of your understanding."

Sheldon then turned and tried to bolt for his room, knowing that some secrets were in danger of being found out again, and for once he damned his poor secret keeping abilities.

"Hold it!" Leonard said firmly, stopping him in his tracks.

This caused him to turn and look at Leonard with the same look as child with their hand caught in a cookie jar inappropriately would have, and he stood still.

"What do you know about my chances with Penny?" Leonard's arms were now crossed in front of him as he gave Sheldon a hard look.

The question was so direct that there really was no way to deflect it. Sheldon's secret regarding Leonard and Penny was doomed.

Speaking softly and looking at the floor, "She informed me that 'something' was missing during your date with her."

Leonard was quiet for a long moment, and this caused Sheldon to shuffle his feet a little. He didn't do well in awkward situations like this, specifically when the other half of his secret would hurt Leonard even worse. Thankfully, as Leonard did not ask him of his changed relationship with Penny, he felt no need to inform him at this time.

Finally, Sheldon looked up when Leonard responded, seeing his face sadden a little, "Oh, I see."

"I'm sorry she doesn't return your regard, Leonard." Sheldon said truthfully, his eyes finding a way to soften just in the slightest, "Perhaps that's because you're not in the running for a Nobel prize."

Leonard obviously couldn't help but give Sheldon a strange look at his attempt at comfort, but he just let out a sigh on accepting that was the best his friend could do, and replied, "Well, thanks…I think."

Sheldon then nodded and then made his way quickly into his room. As soon as the door was closed behind him, he let out a huge sigh of relief. Though one of his secrets was plucked from him, the most important one of his new involvement with Penny was still kept safe. This secret was one that he had to protect for both Penny's and Leonard's sakes.

He quickly changed into his pajamas for the night and got into bed. With disaster averted, he could finally relax. And the next morning, he wouldn't remember the way he dreamed of Penny and her bright hair and smile, her curiously pleasant laugh, and her feather light touches to his hands.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Penny, if we are to conduct a raid together in such a difficult area, the least you can do is to be outfitted with the right gear to at least stand a chance. As you are a Guardian and I am a Conqueror, we do not have the appropriate skills to get through this region with ease. We definitely would have benefited from having a Dark Templar on our team for this." Sheldon spoke into his headset, not even looking at Penny, who happened to be sitting right next to him as the two of them played Age of Conan together.

It was true that Penny had cut down on her playing in recent weeks, but in times like this, when she and Sheldon had some moments to spend time with each other, Sheldon found her indulging herself, as this was something they could have the optimal amount of fun doing together. Sheldon conceded that they did not have many overlapping interests when they first met, but as time went on, this seemed to change.

They were alone in her apartment, since Leonard, Raj, and Howard had decided to spend their 'anything can happen Thursday' at a bar…an activity he definitely had no interest in partaking in at all. Now, with his updated status with Penny, he had extra reason not to, and he was absolutely fine with that.

Penny's eyes were also too glued to the screen to look at Sheldon, so she also responded into the headset, "You're level 80! We can just try to stay at the fringes, and pick off the weak ones from the sides. Then when we find an opening, we charge."

Sheldon shook his head as they moved through the realm, and said, "That's a fool hardy plan. Brute strength isn't always enough to win a battle against creatures weak against magic!"

They played for a few more minutes, and Sheldon was so absorbed in the game, he didn't realize that Penny had drawn closer to him on the couch until their knees bumped together. This made him jump slightly in surprise, and definitely was enough to disrupt what he was doing in the game.

"Penny…" he said in a soft and slightly scolding tone, finally looking at her to meet eyes, but he didn't ask her to move or move away himself, taking a deep breath as he eased into the idea of someone intruding on his small personal bubble.

When she wouldn't look back at her computer screen, he tilted his head at her in confusion. Was she attempting to ponder a new plan of attack? He wasn't sure how she'd be able to do that without looking at stats in game, as he was certain she didn't have the eidetic memory that he did. His eyes widened though, when she reached up and closed her laptop lid without breaking eye contact with him.

He understood finally that the both of them were done playing when she set her laptop aside on the table and placed her headset on top of it. His hands twitched at the idea of not exiting properly out of the game before letting his laptop hibernate, but now with her thigh pressed against his own, he bent under the firmness of her gaze.

With trembling hands, he took off his headset, closed the laptop and put them beside hers on her fairly messy coffee table. He definitely would have to remind her to clean it, or just offer to do it himself later. His thoughts on the mess in the room were immediately dispelled when she put a soft hand on his knee. Now it was completely obvious she wanted to engage in the "benefits" part of their relationship.

He now wished he'd thought ahead to bring his notebook he was documenting this experiment in, as it was news to him that she might not only verbally indicate that she wanted to engage in a non-platonic activities, but also use visual and touch sense clues to do so.

She then reached her other hand up to lightly touch his cheek. Sheldon tried to keep his heart and breathing rates steady, but with so much close contact, that was nearly impossible. Penny seemed to sense his trembling and she gave him a small, but comforting smile. He let out a quiet sigh on seeing it, and it made him feel a little less nervous. When she began to lean closer to him, he went completely still, but it wasn't as stiffly as he was the first few times they kissed, and he let his eyes flutter shut again.

When their lips touched, she first pressed with a low amount of pressure, but her hand slowly moved to the back of his head to increase the pressure as the kiss continued. His whole body shivered as the kiss kept going on, and soon he wanted to pull back to breathe, but her hand was holding his head in place and she didn't seem to want to let go.

He couldn't hold his breath any longer, so he sucked in a deep breath through his nose in a loud and almost undignified way, and was forced to exhale hotly and shakily into her mouth, his lips parting just slightly. He was trembling a little now too, but he didn't push Penny away. The sensations running through him were stronger than they were in any of their previous interactions of this manner, and he could now see that perhaps the sensations increased in intensity through repetition.

When she wouldn't let go of him, he slowly got used to breathing through his nose, noting the tiny movements their lips made against each other, and he realized that it wasn't just a nice feeling, it was actual pleasure running through him. He shivered one more time, and due to his extreme distraction, he didn't immediately discern the warm, wet thing that began to softly press against his lips.

It was a pleasant addition to the small movements of their lips, and unconsciously his lips parted a little bit more. Then the warm, wet thing moved past them and touched his tongue for a split second, and then his mind rushed back with force. It was her tongue! Her tongue touched his lips and was in his mouth at this very moment!

Finally he gasped as though he'd been scandalized, and he grabbed onto her shoulders, and held her back from him, his eyes extremely wide, his body trembling, and his face twitching just slightly.

"P-Penny…you-your tongue! What was your tongue doing in my mouth?" he spoke in an extremely squeaky voice, his fingers still shaking as he held her almost an arms' length away from him.

An embarrassed look came to her face, and she moved her hand to rub lightly over his knee to calm him, and she spoke as though she was talking to an extremely skittish animal, and said, "Sheldon, sweetie, I'm sorry…I'm just so used to…to moving a little faster with other guys…"

Sheldon was only partly listening as he rambled on, his voice getting no less squeaky, "Don't you have any idea how unsanitary that is? I don't want anyone coming near my food for that reason, and now you insist on sharing anyway?"

Penny seemed overwhelmed by his high pitched rant for a moment, but then she suddenly laughed. She gently had him remove his hands from her shoulders and then she grabbed a hold of them with both of hers.

"Sheldon." She continued to speak in the calming tone, sounding the tiniest bit sheepish now, "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. This is just the way people kiss when…well, when they really like the other person."

Sheldon just scrunched his eyebrows and gave her a look of disbelief, his breathing slowly returning to normal after his mild panic, and, thankfully, his voice had mostly returned to its normal pitch to speak a little indignantly, "Which people? These people obviously like the other person enough to pass on whatever communicable diseases they must be harboring."

Penny then just shook her head, and let out another sigh, looking as though she knew she was fighting a losing argument, and she just said, "Look, honey…it's just…the next level of kissing, you could say. When…closed mouth kisses just aren't enough."

Sheldon blinked and then processed this information. He was unaware that kissing could be categorized in different levels. He had seen kisses of this fashion, and those that were much more extreme in various movies and television shows, but he always assumed that was fiction, since he still wasn't certain why anyone would want to engage in activities that were so unsanitary.

There must be something about kissing that he had missed in the past. Penny might not be much in the know about physics, or just science in general, but one thing she did seem to know a great deal about was physical intimacy. He decided that he would take her word on this, as she was an expert in this field.

He finally took one more calming breath and locked her with a slightly blank look that usually adorned his face when he was analyzing a situation, and then said, "I suppose this warrants further study of kissing technique on my part. I do not wish to break any of the stipulations in our 'friends with benefits' agreement by not allowing you some of the benefits that you are entitled to in this arrangement."

She gave him another strange look, and then laughed one more time, patting his knee playfully, saying, "Sometimes I really wonder what it's like to be inside your mind. Why don't we just watch a movie now? I'll even let you pick it."

She grinned at him, and he wondered at the way that smile now seemed always to calm him and cause this strange warmth inside of him. He was certain that he did not suffer from heartburn or anything of the like, so it had to be a strictly emotional manifestation. Another important note he had to make in his observations.

He ended up locating Star Trek VI: The Voyage Home in his apartment, and brought it over to watch. After she had gone to her kitchen to pop them some popcorn to eat while watching, she returned and pulled close to him again. Sheldon was still for a few minutes, watching her closely to see if this was another cue for more kissing, but he let out a breath of relief when it seemed she only wanted to be close to him.

It was strange to be all right with someone being this near to him, but something about this situation made that warm feeling inside return. Eventually, and with great hesitation, he awkwardly rested his arm over her shoulders, and this caused her to hum softly and lean her head toward his.

Quickly he got absorbed by his favorite old Star Trek movie, and didn't notice she had fallen asleep on his shoulder until he heard her softly snoring. This brought him out of the comfort that he'd been lulled into by her warmth next to him and Star Trek capturing the rest of his senses, and he felt awkward next to her once more.

He checked the clock on her DVD player, and found that it was already 12:30am. It was definitely time for him to get back. He was not sure if Leonard, Howard, and Raj would be back from the bar yet, but he would prefer to be the one home first, if possible. He carefully removed the now almost empty popcorn bowl from his lap to place it on an open space on her coffee table, which was harder to find than one would think. He definitely would be coming back later to clear this room up.

But now, he knew he should wake her up to signal his want to leave, but she just looked so peaceful. He just stared at her for some minutes, wondering why her sleeping form would have this powerful effect over him, knowing that this also would have to go in his journal. He just knew that he could not wake her, not when she slept on his shoulder this way.

He then braced himself for what would surely be a feat of strength on his part, and shifted to scoop her into his arms. Once he succeeded with that, he was careful to keep his back straight and her weight as evenly distributed in his arms as he possibly could, finally hoisting her up and walking quickly to the bedroom.

Though it wasn't that far, he knew he was no body builder, so he was huffing by the time he got there. With as much grace as he could manage, he lay her on the bed, which was still messy, and wrapped her snuggly under her covers. Another thing he would have to help her with is rearranging everything in this bedroom. It appeared she either ignored or had forgotten the new organizational paradigm he'd made for her when she'd first moved in the apartment.

When he was sure that she was tucked in nicely, he looked at her again for a few moments, still reluctant to leave. He finally pushed himself into motion, collecting his DVD, his laptop, and his headset to return to his own apartment. When he'd gotten inside, he found that no one was home, for which he was grateful.

He changed and got into his own bed, pondering the way her blonde hair had contrasted brightly against the dark shirt he had been wearing as he began to fall asleep. Just as he drifted off, he decided that her hair seemed like little rays of sunshine, if the light was to adopt a form carrying only the properties of a particle. It made sense since her smiles carried no less brightness in them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

In the following few days, Sheldon found that his research into kissing led him to most distasteful resources, some that included obviously pornographic materials and some that led him to magazines tailored for hormonally imbalanced teenage girls. He quickly realized that he would be better served asking someone for his or her thoughts and experiences having to do with kissing, as he was then in control of the information gleaned from the interaction.

But this left him with a conundrum. Who was he to ask on what he now found was an extremely personal subject? He'd tried asking women who he met in passing in an attempt to randomize his sample of responses, but the most he'd gotten out of them was glares, rude exclamations, and even a few slaps. It was obvious that he had to ask people he knew.

How could this be an accurate experiment though, if his sample size was so small? The best he could hope for was a severely skewed result. And he knew there were only two people he could ask without getting physically harmed or verbally barraged: Raj and Howard.

Leonard would have been his first choice, as he was his roommate and friend, and they did speak on a variety of subjects in the past, but he felt as though a talk with Leonard on this subject would reach the same conclusion as his questioning random women, though for very different reasons. It was strange to think that so many different situations could lead to the same conclusion.

He now just had to wait for the appropriate moment to ask the two of them when Leonard wasn't around, as it would defeat the purpose of not asking Leonard directly if he was around to overhear their conversation. The time finally came one day when Leonard had to do overtime at work, and thus left him alone with Raj and Howard. As they took a break from playing Halo, since it was Halo night, he decided that this was the right opportunity to ask what he wanted to know.

His notebook was prepared, opened to a fresh page, and he was ready to take notes. He looked at the two of them and said, "I have a question to ask both of you regarding an experiment I am conducting. Actually, I suppose it's Penny's experiment, and I'm just helping her collect data."

This caused Howard to smirk, and say, "I know I'm always open to experimentation with her."

Sheldon's look got hard as he glared at Howard and said, "You are close to earning yourself another strike, Wolowitz."

Howard just scowled at Sheldon in response, and then Raj spoke up, "What sort of experiment is this anyway? And just what is happening between you two now?"

"On speaking with Penny after her startlingly unexpected action toward me 3.5 weeks ago, she proposed an experiment to me. Or more, I decoded her incoherent ramblings to mean she wanted to conduct an experiment. She informed me that she felt as though 'something' was missing between she and Leonard, and she wanted to ascertain the likelihood of this 'something' lying with me instead. It was there after we agreed that we were 'friends with benefits,' as to call ourselves a couple would assume the presence of this 'something' already." Sheldon began to explain.

Raj just looked at him thoughtfully and said, "It's amazing you got this far and you didn't even have to try."

Sheldon just raised an impatient eyebrow at Raj as he continued speaking, "A few nights ago, she attempted to…kiss me. With her tongue."

Both Raj and Howard's mouths dropped open and they stared at him incomprehensibly, and then Howard spoke in soft awe, "Tell us all about it."

Sheldon looked ruffled at Howard's unnecessary request, and then said, "The details of the event are not necessary for you to understand my question and answer it. I only related the information so you know the reasoning behind my queries. As Penny and I are 'friends with benefits,' I wished to find out if she is within her rights in our arrangement to ask for such kisses by tabulating other people's kissing technique, and then finding if these style of kisses are prevalent in the common kissing experience. So, gentlemen, I pose to you…what do each of you perceive as the most gratifying technique of using the lips and tongue to cause an optimal release of endorphins in the brain?"

When Howard and Raj stopped staring in shock, a sleazy kind of smirk came to Howard's face as he said, "Sheldon, you've come to the right place."

"Of course this is the right place. It is my apartment, I live here." He said, blinking at Howard's words.

Perhaps it was a mistake to ask such questions to people that would only state the obvious.

Howard then rolled his eyes and continued speaking with that rather irritating looking smirk, "...okay, anyway. The thing with girls. They love the tongue. You have to get all in there with the tongue. The more tongue, the better."

Sheldon thought about this for a moment, his eyebrows scrunching together in critical thought, "That sounds utterly unhygienic, not to mention carrying the probability of being disastrous. What if either of us end up injuring the other's tongue with our teeth? And just what is keeping excess saliva from dripping from our mouths, which most certainly would not be connected in an air tight manner?"

"Dude...you can talk to girls and you're with your hot neighbor, but you're still complaining about how kissing is unhygienic? I pity you." Raj said, shaking his head.

Sheldon just gave him a slightly disgruntled look in return, and then he looked away from the both of them to consider things for a moment. Howard, though clearly not as gifted as himself in most aspects, was one who seemed proposition women quite frequently. It wasn't a secret that many of his attempts were failures, but he supposed that through persistence, Howard seemed to get a few successes. This would make his words carry more weight than his own on the subject, though he would never admit this out loud.

Though, much of what Howard did would be best done in moderation, if at all, and so any advice he gathered from him could not be taken at face value. He quickly took these notes in his journal and then he said to Howard, "I will take your words under advisement."

It was then the smirk was back on Howard's face as he raised a suggestive eyebrow and added, "If you don't want to try out my technique, you can always let me try it out with her and then I'll tell you how it went."

Sheldon stared Howard down for a few seconds, his face giving a single twitch before he said, "Wolowitz, you now have another strike."

The look on his face was then one of disbelief as he let out a frustrated sigh and muttered, "God damn it, not the class, again."

"You would think that with the number of times you've taken it, the rules would have stuck. You are obviously not a very good student." Sheldon admonished as he made a few more notes in his notebook.

Raj had a grim look of acceptance on his face at Sheldon's words, but he was smart enough not to try coming to Howard's defense. There were just a few more months, and his strike would be rescinded. He obviously had the good sense not to get another added to his tally at this point in the game.

When his note taking on Howard's response was done, he put his notebook aside and picked up his 360 controller and saying, "Well, shall we continue?"

"Oh, it's on." Howard said, clutching his own controller with determination, obviously sore over the additional strike.

Sheldon just nodded as he started a new game for them. He wasn't sure why Howard was acting like this, he knew the rules all along. It wasn't Sheldon's fault for consistently enforcing them. In spite of the strike issuing, he'd at least gained a little insight into the kissing issue, and this without another slap in the face. This had to be considered progress by anyone's standards.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Some nights later, Penny was over for dinner on Thai food night, and, like every time she now spent time with them, she made a point to sit by Sheldon, and when no one was looking, specifically Leonard, there would be those feather light touches that not only sent a rush through him like they used to, they made him feel a strange kind of tenseness in his muscles, but he couldn't classify it as negative.

No, it seemed as though the sensations were more extreme than before, hence having the intensified physiological effects, he supposed. He thought on this a little as the rest of the people in attendance had their idle chatter and Howard kept hitting on Penny unsuccessfully. Another interesting effect he had noticed was now this behavior from Howard grated on his nerves much more than it used to, and he was on the verge of banishing him due to this behavior.

But he had no right to banish Howard for his behavior toward Penny, as it would be her that would have to say something. Perhaps he should suggest implementing her own strike system to prevent such behaviors toward herself. He definitely would at a later time, when he could speak with her alone.

In the middle of the meal, Penny got everyone's attention by speaking in a slightly grudging tone, "So, I'll be gone for the next two weeks. Visiting family and all that."

Sheldon then was suddenly brought out of his musing by her words and his eyes widened as he said, "But who will bring me my barbeque burger on Tuesday?"

At this, she patted his knee and said with just a trace of amusement, "Nancy will. I'll tell her to take extra care with it."

If Sheldon was looking at anyone else but Penny, he would have seen Leonard cringing and waiting for him to flip out with her touching him, and Raj and Howard just exchanged pointed looks, knowing just why he already hadn't flipped out. Surprise flashed clearly over Leonard's face when Sheldon just shook his head said, "But you bring me my burger. I don't want anyone else to bring me my burger."

Penny's look then softened a little more, and she said with a tiny bit of helplessness, "Sweetie, I wish I could be here instead, believe me. But my parents have guilted me into coming back. It'll only be a couple weeks, okay?"

"But…how can I be sure that someone new will pay appropriate attention to food serving protocols? This is unacceptable!" Sheldon said, his eyes widening a little more, and his mouth getting pressed into the thin line that signaled a mini tantrum was imminent.

"Oh, boy, here it comes." Raj muttered to himself, and if Sheldon was not more worried about his food being mishandled on Tuesday for the next two weeks, he definitely would have given him a glare.

But the tantrum didn't come, not with the way her hand lightly brushed his fingers, in a way that surely looked accidental, and she spoke slowly and calmingly, almost to the point of being patronizing, "Right when I go to work tomorrow, I'll have a long talk with her about it, and if you like, I'll even bring you to meet her, okay?"

Perhaps if his mind wasn't so distracted by the small touch, her tone wouldn't have won her any points with him, but now he just frowned and grudgingly agreed, "Fine."

Sheldon definitely didn't like it when his schedules got disrupted, and certainly didn't like it when new people handled his food, but Penny promised him she would make sure his food was taken care of and that he would be able to quiz the other waitress on her serving techniques and hygiene protocols. He could have tried to forbid her to go on this trip to save him all of this worry, but he was fairly certain that'd be a useless endeavor, as she would leave anyway and just be angry at him as she did so.

It never troubled him before much, but now he just knew he would not want that, so he decided to let her go without a fight. At such a quick agreement, Leonard could only stare dumbly between he and Penny, unable to comprehend what just happened.

Howard and Raj exchanged a look and Howard then decided to deflect attention from Sheldon's obviously abnormal behavior by saying, "So let's get started on our movie, huh? We should celebrate our aversion of disaster."

With a long, suspicious look at Sheldon, Leonard finally said, "Yeah, let's."

Sheldon pouted through the rest of his meal and the movie though, this change making him even more unhappy than he ever expected. He had thought he'd be relieved by a break from Penny, but the prospect seemed much less desirable now. He definitely had to analyze these feelings at a later time. For now he would try to get through the time without Penny around without complaining too much.

He definitely would be going to Penny's later that evening to arrange with her when exactly he'd be meeting this Nancy, since he wouldn't be leaving the preparation of his food up in the air, upgraded relationship with Penny or not.

* * *

"Penny. Penny. Penny."

Sheldon spoke quietly as he did his special knock, having snuck out again after Leonard had fallen asleep to see her. These late visits were starting to interrupt his regular sleep schedule, but the longer this went on between them, the more he felt drawn to her. He didn't usually bend to his temptation of wanting to see her, but this time he felt it was especially necessary since she was to leave in a few days and the visit with her replacement waitress had to be arranged and completed before that time.

She came to answer the door, looking sleepy and disheveled, but on opening the door and seeing him, she gave him a half smile and then invited him inside, saying a little teasingly, "Should I get used to these surprise visits from you for now on? If I knew you were going to show up, I might have put on something nicer."

Sheldon waved the thought away and said, "What you wear is inconsequential. I wanted to plan with you when I am to meet your replacement at the Cheesecake Factory during your time away."

She let out a sigh and then smiled, taking a seat on her couch and then patting the seat next to her in invitation. He carefully sat down and continued to speak, "I am free in the afternoons during my lunches at 2pm, and I conclude my work hours at 6pm on weekdays. What day and time is adequate for this meeting between Nancy and me to occur?"

"You can meet her after our shifts tomorrow. They end at 8 pm, okay?" she said, looking slightly amused at the serious expression on his face.

He didn't know why she thought his diligence with hygiene was so funny…it was for this reason that he hardly ever found himself ill or weakened by any pathogens that he might come into contact with over the day. On nodding his ascent to their schedule for the next day, he just sat with her silently. Penny then let out a small sigh and then reached out to put a hand on his knee, as she'd done earlier that night.

This time, she didn't have to watch for anyone or make sure it was within the adequate parameters of friendship, or restrain herself. Sheldon was sure that with this in mind, her hand began to rub soft circles on his knee and she scooted just a little closer to him. Another conclusion he decided to draw, based on past observation as well, is that whenever they were absolutely alone, she many times wished to have "benefits" from him.

He supposed that was due to the fact that receiving said benefits in front of other people went against a variety of social rules, and he knew that he didn't like watching others engaged in such activity, so it wouldn't be fair to subject the people he was around to it either. There was also the problem with Leonard to deal with.

Once again, Sheldon told himself that nothing could be done with his pining friend until this 'something' between he and Penny was finally and indisputably found. On this note, Sheldon realized that his research into kissing might just come into handy much sooner than he'd expected, as she gave him the look that she always did that seemed to indicate that she would be kissing him.

He held himself still, but had now trained himself to the point that he wouldn't stiffen like a brick wall whenever she kissed him, and he trained himself to relax enough to at least allow the pleasant sensations to overcome the fact that she was so close to him, and was touching him in this intimate this way. He carefully shut his eyes when their lips met and she found one of his hands as they kissed and softly rubbed the back of it.

The firm kiss on his lips and the rubbing and squeezing of his hand made him shiver softly, and even if these new emotions scared him slightly, he felt as though their experiment was on the verge of a breakthrough, since through relaxation, the actions she made toward him were decidedly more pleasant than they were negative. Perhaps feeling this 'something' wasn't as strictly restricted to Penny as he never thought he'd allow or appreciate such actions from another person. The fact that he never allowed anyone else this close to him spoke to the fact that he trusted her more than he ever had anyone else, so he hoped she understood the significance.

Due to happenings last time, she only kept their lips joined as her hand moved lightly up his arm, which caused him to shiver again. He kept in mind what he learned last time about breathing in through his nose to prolong the kiss. He knew it was what Penny would have wanted and he couldn't say he minded the kiss lasting longer himself. Every movement of her lips against his was sending little shocks of sensation to his brain and to his body, and he realized that this seemed to be different from the other times.

It must have been his preoccupation with her closeness that before caused him to overlook these small sensations. Relaxing was obviously the key to enjoying these interactions. He would have dissected each sensation by intensity and what area of his body seemed most affected by them, but the longer the kiss went on, the harder it was to focus.

Penny had informed him that the use of one's tongue was employed when closed mouthed kisses 'just weren't enough.' He wished that her definition was more specific, as he would have trouble gauging exactly when that was. His heart rate had risen by a significant amount, and his breath had deepened in a way that usually indicated exertion, yet he didn't want to stop the contact. In the back of his mind, he started wondering if this was bad for his health, causing the physiological responses in his body of hard work by barely moving at all, but for the large part, he just filed those concerns away for review at a later time.

Right now, all he wanted was this, shocking as he found the fact. Next, Howard's words on kissing came to mind, and though that was still much too difficult to imagine implementing to that degree, Sheldon figured that moderating the action he suggested, and moving at a slower pace, would suit him better. At the very least, it would provide Penny with necessary and essential data for her experiment.

Sheldon then allowed his lips to part slightly, and with great hesitation, he slowly slid his tongue out to lightly touch her lips. He cringed slightly as his tongue made contact, as the bacteria that just might have been colonizing that very second on her lips crossed his mind, but the notion was gone as quickly as it came as he heard her breath hitch.

Her tongue then slid forward to timidly touch his, as though she knew that she couldn't move fast at risk of him coming to his senses and stopping this entirely. He did suck in a deep breath and protectively his tongue slid back into his mouth, but he held himself in place, not breaking the kiss. Trembling slightly, he sucked in one more breath to let his panic pass. He didn't want to stop, he wanted to see the rest of this trial through.

He pushed his tongue out of his mouth again to meet with hers, focusing only on how it felt, not the possibility of infectious agents entering through his oral cavity, and he gave her tongue a light lick. He shook a little under the sensation of such a simple action, and unconsciously, he'd leaned his body more toward hers.

Making a noise he interpreted to be encouraging, she returned the same action, though hers involved far more contact between their tongues and was at a much slower rate. Sheldon clutched at her hand and exhaled a shaky breath. Though it was impossible to see behind his closed eyelids, that movement caused his eyes to roll back in his head, since she coupled it with a hand on his chest.

Coherent thought was moving closer to becoming an impossibility, and he was rather startled to note that as their tentative tongue kissing continued, a strange kind of tension began to coil in his gut, and he began to crave much more than what he was getting. He wanted to touch, he wanted to feel. There was the daunting, and frankly terrifying, possibility that even the dubious activity of tongue kissing 'wasn't enough.'

She then moved her other hand to rest on his chest as well, rubbing very slowly upward with them. In return, he very shakily raised his hands from his lap area and rested them on her shoulders, which were partly bare in the style of shirt she was wearing. On instinct, he moved them toward her neck as she pushed her tongue just a little more against his.

His hands trembled even more and a curious sound he'd never heard himself make before, somewhere between a sigh and a moan, came from his lips. On feeling his fingertips reaching her neck, that tension coiled just a little tighter. Was he going to suffer some physiological complication from an excess amount of this kind of activity? Perhaps this was enough for the time being, as he wasn't sure what came after this anyway, and he needed to analyze his findings.

With one more shiver, his hands ran up to cup her cheeks, and he gently disengaged their lips, gasping softly with his eyes still closed, "Penny..."

When he opened his eyes, he found Penny to be giving him a half smile and she spontaneously leaned closer to give him a hug, wrapping her arms around him and laying her head against his chest. Sheldon looked down at her, and his arms hovered hesitantly above her for a moment before he settled with letting them lay softly on her back. The closeness was still something he wasn't used to, but he decided that as he had not suffered any symptoms of the fight or flight response to this, he was slowly becoming acclimated to it.

"I'm gonna miss you, Sheldon." She said softly in what he believed to be a happy tone, not moving to look at him, but instead snuggling just a little closer.

He found the mixed signals in her words quite confusing, as he wasn't certain how missing someone could be expressed in such a warm tone, but he figured it was just another example of the paradox that was Penny. He didn't say anything since he was at a loss of what to say, so he just kept holding on to her, hoping that would be good enough.

For a long time the two of them stayed silently like this, and Sheldon found that he felt so comfortable with her warmth that he quickly lost track of time, and before he realized it, his eyes drooped closed and his head dipped down to rest against the top of hers. If he was conscious, he might have thought on how soft her hair was and how nice it smelled, but on drifting off, all he did was let out an appreciative sigh.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The next morning, Sheldon's internal clock finally began to wake him. At first, he felt nice and warm, and was even slightly tempted to stay in this warmth just a little longer. But the more he woke up, the more abnormal the situation felt. He started feeling a significant weight on his chest that was warm, and how parts of his body felt cold. He kept himself cocooned in an even distribution of warmth in his bed, so this must mean…

His eyes flew open, and before he thought about it, he'd shot up into a sitting position. Before he could really take in the sights that weren't his bedroom, he heard a yelp and a soft thud. He blinked as Penny picked herself off the floor and gave him a disgruntled look and softly exclaimed in annoyance, "Sheldon!"

"I am not in my bedroom." He said, his eyes wide as he got himself into a completely upright position.

He quickly put things together and realized that he must have dozed off during his late visit the night before, and then stayed sleeping with her on her couch. Penny gave him one more glare at her rude awakening, and then let out a sigh, replying in a tired tone, "No, you're obviously in my living room."

"I must be in my bedroom. I only sleep in my bedroom." Sheldon said, wringing his hands as he tried to keep calm about actually sleeping somewhere else when it was not a special case.

The look on Penny's face told him that it was too early for her to be dealing with his panic, but she let out one more sigh, reached out and touched his hand, speaking softly and comfortingly, giving him a tiny smile, "Honey, calm down. It's all right. I'm glad that you were here when I woke up. It was nice."

His eyes darted around as he tried very hard to keep his breathing and heart rate under control, and hearing her soft voice helped. He mustn't have been here for more than four to five hours. Glancing at the clock on her DVD player told him that it was now 6:38am. There was still time to return to his apartment before Leonard would wake up.

He finally looked back at her, his panic calmed slightly, and he tilted his head in a confused kind of way, and said, "You enjoyed sleeping with me on your couch? In spite of the poor amount of space available to us, the uncomfortable sleeping arrangement we ended up in, and the uneven distribution of heat on our bodies?"

She chuckled lightly, more to his confusion, and said, "Yeah, I actually did. Though, next time, I hope we can sleep in a little more of a comfortable position."

Next time? She was already planning for this to happen again? He blinked again at this. He would have to note down in his experimental journal that these 'benefits' she expected not only involved physical intimacy, but just simple closeness as well. Though he would readily object to the way they both ended up halfhazardly sprawled across each other on the couch, it was not unpleasant to have his arms around her, or to have felt her weight upon him as he returned to wakefulness.

More important conclusions to note down. Though unexpected, this experience led to a huge breakthrough in the experiment. It was true that many scientific discoveries happened when they were least expected, and so he counted this as one such circumstance.

He quickly put his thoughts aside though, since it was imperative he leave Penny's apartment and re-enter his own before Leonard woke, not wanting to give him an explanation if asked, and really having no skill at keeping secrets if put under pressure. He finally spoke again to Penny, "I must return to my apartment. Leonard will be awake soon."

"Oh…okay." She said, smiling understandingly.

Before Sheldon could hurry back, she grabbed his arm to stop him for a moment. When he scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, she leaned forward to give him a small peck on the lips. He then looked at her with a softer look and said, "I will come at 8pm tonight to the Cheesecake Factory to meet with Nancy."

"Okay, I'll see you then." She replied.

He then nodded, got up and hurried back to his apartment. He barely entered and made it down the hall toward the bathroom when Leonard tumbled out of his room and met eyes with him. Sheldon's face went absolutely blank and his eyes went wide. Leonard gave him a strange look, still trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes, and he said, "Did you get up late today?"

Sheldon just blinked. It was a question he could give a truthful answer to, so he said, "Yes."

And then he rushed into the bathroom before anything else could be asked.

* * *

With Penny gone, things progressed almost normally, but Sheldon noticed her absence in the apartment building and even in their own apartment, as she was now a frequent visitor for dinner and other things they did during the week. It was strange not hearing her laughing about one thing or another, or arguing with Leonard or Howard about something, or just…talking to him about one inane thing or another.

But he especially felt her absence at the Cheesecake Factory. Though he'd thoroughly quizzed Nancy on all necessary topics, and she had performed admirably, it simply wasn't the same. Though the others seemed to be getting through their meals without a problem, Sheldon picked at his, the joy of eating the burger noticeably reduced with Penny's absence.

He finally pulled out his phone and began to text Penny back and forth:

It is Cheesecake Factory Tuesday. You are not here. -SC

I'm sorry, honey. Isn't Nancy doing a good job? -Queen P

She is performing her duties acceptably, but she is not you. I need you to bring me my food. -SC

I'd rather be with you, too. I can't wait until I'm back! 3 -Queen P

Sheldon realized that it was a useless endeavor to try eating here with her gone, since such a sudden disruption to his Tuesday routine really made it impossible to act as though nothing was different.

He'd just laid down his phone on reading Penny's last text when Leonard finally said, "You've hardly touched your food, Sheldon. You know Nancy followed all of your rules. What's the problem?"

"Penny didn't bring me my burger. She always brings me my burger." Sheldon said, interlacing his fingers and laying them in front of him on the table, as if he said something completely elementary and rational.

Leonard had to roll his eyes at that, and said, "Sometimes Penny can't be here to give you your food. You have to be prepared for that possibility."

It seemed like Leonard had braced himself for some sort of barrage from him, as his shoulders suddenly got a lot more tense and his expression a little harder. Sheldon might have normally returned with a long list of reasons why he couldn't really be sure that his food was treated exactly right since he did not personally know Nancy, but he simply was not in the mood.

He just knew that it should be Penny here taking their orders and bringing them their food, not this unknown Nancy. Penny knew exactly what they liked to order and none of them had to ask twice for any specifications they had for their meals, no matter how complicated they might have been. He knew this from personal experience, as he was quite strict with the way he had his food, and she did it without batting an eyelash.

Sheldon was sure some surprise flashed in Leonard's eyes when his barrage didn't come, and all he did was reply simply in a quiet and slightly pouty tone, "It isn't the same without Penny here."

Leonard just looked at Sheldon suspiciously for a long moment before shaking his head and continuing with his meal. Sheldon also didn't miss the knowing look that Raj and Howard exchanged, but he was glad that they said nothing. Thankfully, before the silence got too awkward, Raj changed the subject to what he was working on in his latest experiment.

Just as well. Sheldon felt that the sooner that they finished this outing, the better.

* * *

On returning from the Cheesecake Factory, Leonard was confused over Sheldon's melancholy mood. Whenever Penny took trips before, Sheldon didn't seem this out of sorts. Leonard figured that something else might have happened to him over the day to irritate or upset him, since that definitely wasn't hard to do, and then when more of his schedule got interrupted, it was natural for him to have more of a fit over it.

He also figured that Sheldon probably needed some time to get over whatever this was, since usually Sheldon would talk to him about the things that bothered him whether he wanted to listen or not. He figured that this must be something relatively minor, otherwise Sheldon already would have been talking his ear off about it.

Leonard was about to settle down to a night of gaming on his laptop, when he realized that he needed to speak to Dr. Gabelhowser at work, to approve a new project he wanted to start, but he didn't have the man's contact information right on hand. Instead waiting to look up the information the next day at work or online, he figured that Sheldon would have the number right in his phone.

"Hey, Sheldon, I wondered if – " Leonard looked up from his computer, expecting Sheldon to still be in the room with him, but he'd found he was alone.

Strange. Sheldon usually liked to watch the Star Trek TOS reruns before turning in, but it seemed that this evening he just went straight to bed. Sheldon's phone was right on the coffee table, so he figured that quickly looking in the phone for the number wouldn't be horrible of him. That was another thing strange. Sheldon usually didn't just leave his phone around willy nilly. This probably had something to do with the other's mood.

He picked up the phone to look for the number and gave a start when it rang to indicate a new text message. Curious, he unlocked the phone and looked at the message. Instead of one from one of the guys or Sheldon's mother or grandmother, the text was surprisingly from Penny.

Just one more week, honey. I'll be back before you know it. -Queen P

Leonard was unable to resist hitting the back button to read over the rest of the texts that Penny and Sheldon had sent each other over the day, his eyebrows rising in surprise. If he were reading texts between Penny and any other guy, he knew that he immediately would suspect that something was going on between the two of them. But, not only was this between Penny and his best friend, this was Sheldon.

His eyebrows were scrunched in confusion, and he thought things through. There couldn't be anything between Sheldon and Penny, could there be? It was true that the two of them had gradually tapered on their vicious insults to each other, and that Sheldon had really accepted Penny into their lives, but Leonard figured that was just due to Penny's general friendliness and persistence, not due to a possible change between Penny and Sheldon themselves.

Though, he did feel slightly suspicious, since quite frequently as of late, Penny was invading Sheldon's personal space bubble, but he didn't seem reprimand her for it, nor did the normal amount of discomfort come to his face when she did it. But this was still Sheldon, one who shunned all human contact. There were just so many things wrong with even the assumption that something was going on between Sheldon and Penny that he decided to drop the idea.

He finally went into Sheldon's phone numbers and got the one he was looking for as he shook his head about how silly a conclusion his jealousy brought him to. He then decided he wanted to know just what Penny did to get herself a 'get out of strike free' card while the rest of them still had to suffer.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Penny finally returned from her trip to Nebraska, and to celebrate, Leonard suggested that they should have a slightly nicer dinner at the apartment than usual. She also commemorated everything by bringing everyone a little present. Sheldon found the gifts to be rather frivolous, but he said nothing. He was more focused on his relief brought on by her return, most likely due to the fact that his routines could now shift back to their normal states.

One thing he did not notice was the softer look than normal adorning his features, which Leonard studied with interest and Raj and Howard just rolled eyes and shook their heads at. Over the time of Penny's absence, Sheldon had also been a little quieter than normal, finding that he had far less to contribute to conversation under the stress of his routines falling apart.

With dinner progressing in the way it usually did with Penny around, Sheldon's normal speech and way of interaction returned, though most of the others seemed to find that of dubious value, as he had a habit of pointing out faults and short comings of everyone else. It was no fault of his own that they suffered from these faults. He just wanted to be helpful and point them out so there was a chance for them to improve them.

When everyone was finished, they began to clean up, but before Sheldon could get up from the couch, Penny leaned just a little closer to him than normal, gave him a small smile as she discreetly patted his knee and softly said with amusement and warmth, "Honey, I really did miss you. It was really weird not having you around to give me science-y solutions to all my problems."

Sheldon blinked at her for a moment, surprised that her unexpected touch didn't make him want to jump, and then he replied smoothly at first, and then his tone got just a little more scandalized at her making up a word, "Of course you would. Good lord, how did you manage without me?"

Penny's grin grew at Sheldon's words and she laughed. Though he didn't let it show on his face, the noise was welcome, and deep down, it made him realize it was a sound he missed over the last two weeks. He studied her face closely and decided she was far more attractive when laughing.

He finally stood to throw away his trash and wash dishes, and waited for Penny to join him. Sheldon decided that he would have to look over his experimental notes again to figure out just when he'd developed such an attachment to Penny, not only not really minding when she was near him, but actually wishing for her presence at times.

It was certainly baffling, since he never wanted to be near anyone before. Most curious.

* * *

* * *

A few more weeks passed since Penny's return from Nebraska, and she was unfortunately spending less time with them during time off, due to increased rehearsals for the play she was to be in, as it was soon to be opened to the public. Sheldon found out that it was to be a production of the modern interpretation of the Greek play Pygmalion, and she was to play the female lead.

Sheldon knew this was her first acting part in a small, but respectable, acting company, and that every time she talked about it, her face would simply light up. This had to be supplemental evidence to their experiment, that now he was noticing all the different facial expressions that corresponded to her various emotions, when before, he neither noticed nor cared when her expressions or emotions changed.

Dare he say that he felt a kind of fondness for Penny that not even his best friend had managed to really inspire in him? When Leonard was gone for a day, he did not feel it as keenly as when Penny was gone for a few hours. He did not continuously bend to the temptation of giving her a call when he felt this, or just drop by to her apartment unannounced, though he found himself more frequently wondering if it would be so horrible if he did.

It was almost disturbing that thoughts of Penny seemed to frequent his mind as often as thoughts of the Polyakov action principle, though he felt it was useless to stress over or deny something that just clearly was. Over the time the two of them were conducting this experiment, Sheldon paid careful attention to signs that this 'something' was slowly brewing between the two of them, but he never expected himself to change like this.

The night that Penny invited them to her show, Leonard suggested that they get her flowers to reflect their pride in her for landing her first real acting job. Sheldon wouldn't have gotten flowers for her himself, as he felt that it was a waste of time and money to give someone a gift that would certainly die within a few days, though it appeared that this was another 'non-optional social convention,' so he decided to let Leonard take care of this.

That wasn't to say he wasn't gratified for Penny receiving this job, with the way she grinned every time she spoke of it. In spite of her lack of schooling, he did want her to be successful. The fact that he'd accepted her into their group with her lack of education was a miracle in itself, but this connection that was growing between them…he had no rational explanation for it.

And for all the notes he took on their interactions, there was no rational explanation for the way his heart skipped a beat when she looked at him with her smile, or lightly touched his arm or his knee. It was especially odd that he didn't feel the need to sanitize whatever parts of his body that she touched, but under their new arrangement, he figured that such a response to touch would be unacceptable. Not to mention the fact that their tongues were already in each other's mouths which carried far worse consequences than simple touch.

Though, he did not regret any of it. In fact, he shocked himself by always wanting more…always wanting to be near her, and clearly feeling happier when she was. He was sure this realization was a necessary addendum he would add to the discussion section, if he decided to write a paper on this entire experiment. Perhaps others may be able to find rationality where he failed. Though, the conclusion of the experiment wasn't his main concern at the moment.

He now had to watch Penny in a play he had little interest in and sit in a theater where he was not allowed to choose his seat. He knew it would irritate him if he did not find himself in the acoustic 'sweet spot' in the theater, but he would keep mum about that. In this situation, it was Penny's wants that were more important than his own, so he would keep these thoughts to himself for the time being. Perhaps if he attended one of Penny's shows in the future, he may ask her if she could reserve him a seat of his choosing instead.

After Leonard had procured a medium sized bouquet of roses and lilies, the four of them piled into Leonard's car and they drove to the Fremont Center Theater. Penny had given them the tickets in advance, and they entered the theater without much trouble and took their seats. Though they were not in the acoustic sweet spot, he was pleased that their seats were near the front and close enough to see the faces of the people on the stage. It was not optimal, but it was acceptable.

Sheldon made sure they arrived just before the show started so that the time spent in this theater not approved by him would be minimal. He would not have even come near this theater if it weren't for Penny. Another find of note in this experiment was the fact that he had far more trouble in recent times to refuse any request she had of him, no matter how ridiculous or inane.

A thoughtful look came to his face at this as he pondered the consequences of this. Was it normal for a friend that gave and received benefits from another to bend to the other's will so easily? He knew that he didn't bend to Leonard's will, and certainly not Raj or Howard's if they wanted him to do something that he didn't necessarily want to. What about Penny made it all different? Perhaps it was the benefits themselves that compelled him?

What a strange thought. He thought himself above such simple conditioning. Though, he believed it was more complicated than receiving a 'treat' for completing behaviors of Penny's liking. No. As above emotional connection as he thought himself, it wasn't true, especially when Penny was concerned. He genuinely wished for her to be happy and succeed. He liked seeing her happy.

His heart rate rose just slightly as he felt he was at the cusp of some magnificent discovery brought on by this experiment, but before he could truly grasp it, the lights in the theater went low to indicate the start of the play. He filed these thoughts away and prioritized them as quite urgent. There would be no Star Trek that evening. He realized that he needed to think.

The curtain finally rose and when the play started, a blonde woman immediately caught his attention. It was Penny. In costume, she looked quite different, as the costumes they wore were period specific to the early 1900's, but she still looked…stunning.

Sheldon had to blink at that unbidden thought. Stunning? There was no question in his mind that Penny was physically attractive, given the way his colleagues, and any other number of males he'd seen her interact with reacted to her, but he'd never thought himself subject to her 'feminine wiles,' as that would most certainly imply weakness on his part.

Though, as he'd come to realize, it would be an outright lie to say that he didn't enjoy the 'benefits' in their relationship himself. But, he wasn't reacting to her attractive countenance, not completely. She enjoyed their interactions, so he was more than willing to oblige, especially since he seemed to be enjoying it as well. Penny deserved this 'something,' so he now knew that his own stake in the experiment had risen significantly.

Now he was starting to feel that successful conclusion of this experiment was paramount.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

A few hours later, the show had concluded and Leonard commented that he was surprised at how well everyone in the play acted. Not that this conclusion from him was falsely drawn, given the other acting jobs that Penny had before this one, but it still caused him to bristle slightly. It was obvious that Penny's acting abilities had vastly improved since those times, and dare he think it? He was proud of her for not giving up on her dreams when she had come against hardships such as lack of connections and lack of much acting ability.

Her perseverance had caused her to rise above these things, and now he felt a communal gift of now minutely wilting flowers was not good enough to express this to her. He had to go past the normal non-optional social convention of flowers and into a realm that still made him uncomfortable, even with these few months with Penny. Perhaps they should soon sit down again and discuss the progress of the experiment and just what this implied about their relationship.

As Penny was the expert of relationships between the two of them, despite her obvious poor judgment in her previous choice of mates, exemplified by many of her ex-boyfriends, he knew that she would have to give the final say on the results. It felt so strange to be comfortable trusting someone else with an experiment that could potential change both of their lives, but something told him that it was the right thing to do.

And Penny…he could never put his finger on it, but he trusted her with everything. Just to have put the notion together with a firm thought like this shocked him and almost caused him to recoil. Naturally, Leonard, Howard, and Raj didn't notice this, as they were too busy chatting about the play, or in Howard's case, the 'hot girls' in the play, and Leonard led them toward the backstage to find Penny and give her the flowers they got for her.

The four of them finally found her and the two of them met eyes. He never fell victim to blushing very often in his life, but her smile was so happy, her green eyes brighter than he'd ever thought human irises had the ability to get, and her posture just a little straighter with confidence as she walked toward them.

He couldn't stop further physiological reactions to this sight either, his breath hitching and his heart skipping a beat. Before, he thought something was wrong with his heart for these random bouts of arrhythmia, but he'd visited the doctor one time to make sure, and on getting declared still in perfect health, he had no choice but to conclude it was Penny that caused these curious reactions in him in various situations.

One like this was non-withstanding. She was glowing. And even if he wasn't usually prone to romanticism, he just knew that she was beautiful like this.

"Hey, guys! I'm so glad you could come!" she found a way to smile even brighter at him as she accepted the flowers from Leonard.

He nodded at her and his blush grew slightly. Leonard then said with his own grin and excitement, "Penny, you were great!"

"Thanks, Leonard!" she said happily to him, but then she looked at Sheldon, and a little amusement quirked her lips as she added with a teasing eyebrow, "Did the play meet your approval, Sheldon?"

He blinked at the look she was giving him, and his blush deepened. He was sure that the others would be able to see the unusual color on his face now, but he cleared his throat to maintain an even tone and said, "Though modern renditions of Greek tragedies are not usually to my liking, as much of the meaning and poignancy of the message in the play is lost in the revision, I thought your performance in this was…exemplary."

Now that caused everyone to turn their heads in shock as they were expecting some sort of criticism from him about the acting or stage direction, or any other number of things that could be pointed out negatively about the play, but they certainly didn't expect Sheldon to give Penny such a compliment.

It was obvious that they did not understand. He gave unequivocal praise when it was deserved, and only when it was deserved. And now, he knew that it definitely was.

She giggled at his compliment and said, "Oh, Sheldon, that's so sweet."

"I do not see how my words can be likened to a taste, since you hear them, not taste them." He mumbled, his blush getting even worse.

She laughed again, and then she looked back to the others, saying, "I'm so happy that you all came to see me. I knew you were coming tonight, so I was a little more nervous, but it makes me feel good to know you all liked it."

Leonard grinned and said slightly goofily, "Let us take you out to dinner. We might not have the chance later. You know, when you're a big famous movie star."

Howard then smirked and slid forward to take Penny's arm and said, "Give us a chance to sweep you off your feet."

Sheldon definitely didn't appreciate this, as his face began to twitch, but thankfully Penny just gave Howard her own glare and raised an impatient, threatening eyebrow at him, saying, "Howard…"

Howard knew that look, and on deciding that he'd like to reproduce one day, he quickly distanced himself from her and scurried by Leonard to say, "Your carriage awaits, my lady." He then turned to Leonard to quietly add, "Let's go."

Leonard rolled his eyes at Howard and said, "We'll just pull the car around the front. It may take us a few minutes with everyone trying to leave the theater at once."

"It's fine, take your time. I'm sure my friends would like to have their usual post-show banter with me." Penny said, smiling.

"Alright, I'll just give your phone a call when we're ready to get you." Leonard said, smiling again at her.

He then began to walk off and he grabbed Howard's arm to drag him along, since it seemed like he'd caught sight of another pretty girl back stage and was beginning to gravitate toward her, muttering, "I'd like not to testify in court about witnessing sexual harassment, Howard."

"What? I was only going to verbally appreciate that raven haired temptress!" Howard said, both his and Leonard's voices fading as they got further away.

Raj looked between Penny and Sheldon awkwardly for a moment, and then he smiled and waved, and scurried after Leonard and Howard. Finally, being alone, Sheldon turned to Penny, finding her to be giving him a soft smile.

"Really. Thanks for coming. It meant a lot to me." She smiled at him, and though this smile was no less bright than any other she had given all of them tonight, something was definitely different about it. Something was…special.

"I was…gratified to see you doing well in your role. Thank you for asking me to come." Sheldon replied softly, really not used to complimenting someone so much.

But there was the fact that he'd never met someone that deserved his compliments as much as Penny. It had taken him two years to see it, but now there wasn't anything that was more obvious to him. These thoughts, in addition to wanting to give her a more personal gift than a generic flower bouquet brought him shakily stepping closer to her, and then leaning forward in extreme hesitation to press a light kiss on her cheek.

He was trembling lightly in absolute anxiousness and nervousness. It was true that he and Penny had engaged in far more advanced techniques of kissing, but that was all in privacy. Here, there were any number of people that could have seen them, and he wasn't sure he approved of others witnessing any affection between them, but in this case, he had no choice.

When he finally pulled back, the smile was still on her lips, and there seemed to be pleasant surprise reflected in her eyes. In the moment that she had struck him speechless, a few of Penny's fellow actors approached them, and he quickly distanced himself, not sure what to do in the presence of these new people.

"Oh, Penny, you nailed that performance! You usually do good, but tonight, it was great!" one of the females that approached Penny said in excitement as she wrapped her in a quick hug.

The other then also hugged Penny and said, "It really was an inspired performance."

Penny was beaming in wake of their compliments, and Sheldon just watched her with almost a tender look. He didn't pay the others any mind since he never was one to make idle chatter with strangers, and from the looks of things, Sheldon decided that they must have little interest or knowledge in the area of physics, so another reason to stay mum.

Finally, the two friends of Penny's noticed him fidgeting in place next to her, and then they smiled politely, with one of them asking in what Sheldon believed was a teasing tone, "Now, Penny…who's this?"

Sheldon just kept looking at Penny as this new woman talked to him, looking rather uncomfortable in this situation, and she gave him a comforting smile, and then said to her friends in a tone that was gentle, "Lauryl, Sara, this is my…friend, Sheldon. His apartment is across the hall from mine."

Sheldon felt as though her introduction was adequate, as they were friends with benefits, but he had the inkling that one was not supposed to reveal something like that in casual conversation, so he would not correct Penny this time. He just nodded quietly in response, not sure if he could add anything to her statement.

He felt even more uncomfortable when both of the other females' attention was then focused on him as they looked him over, and then her African American friend, Lauryl he supposed, spoke directly to him in a slightly irritating flirtatious tone, "So, Sheldon…what do you do?"

Now, his work was something he had great pride in, so he stood up just a little straighter, though that was hardly necessary since he practically towered over the females, and said in a confident and even tone, "I am a theoretical physicist. My research is on heterotic string theory and I have nearly single handedly reconciled the black hole information paradox using a string network condensation approach."

These truly were Penny's friends because they blinked at him in a very similar way to how she did when she did not understand what he said to her, which, admittedly, was often. Though, he would have to say, it was far less often than when they first met. Perhaps there was hope for Penny yet.

The two females then exchanged obviously confused looks when the other one, Sara, spoke in a tone that implied very few wheels were turning upstairs, "Oh, black holes, like in Star Trek? Did you see that movie by the way? Chris Pine is hot!"

Sheldon could just gawk at her, his face twitching a little at what he perceived to be degradation of his beloved Star Trek. The point of Star Trek was not 'hot guys,' it was the science behind space travel, the intrigue of visiting new planets, the bonds of friendship that could never be broken…Penny seemed to catch on to this, and before he could start on one of his usual diatribes about blasphemy committed against sci-fi by the uninformed, she quickly said with a sheepish smile to her friends, and then looking back to Sheldon for a moment, "I think Sheldon likes the old Star Trek a little better, don't you? But anyway, I think we need to get going since Sheldon and his friends are taking me out for a celebratory dinner for such a good performance!"

Sheldon sputtered just slightly to have his lecture cut off before it could start, since he knew that these two females could do with a good bit of education on the true virtues of Star Trek, but tonight, he decided, was Penny's night. If he saw either or both of these women again, he would surely let them know what was what. He then went silent again and looked at Penny. It was far more preferable than speaking to those vapid friends of hers.

His eyes softened when they fell on Penny once more. He was almost certain that this warmth he felt inside when he looked at her should not happen to a friend with benefits. But what did it mean? He couldn't think on it now, though. Not with the way she smiled at him after bidding her friends goodbye. Penny then took the lead as they made their way to the exit of the theater, and Sheldon followed. He gave a slight start when Penny's hand brushed against his as they walked and then when he met slightly startled eyes with her, her eyes were so warm that he melted again.

How was it physiologically possible to feel as though your insides were melting, and for it to feel so…pleasant? He didn't have time to ponder this too long, since she spontaneously reached forward to lightly grab his hand. They had never done this in public, so it caused his breath to hitch, but he didn't pull his hand away. He couldn't deny her something so simple, so he slightly twitchily gripped back.

Her eyes widened a little when she felt him grab back and in return, she gave him a small grin. His lips then twitched into a half smile, one that betrayed no intent to kill Batman, thankfully. He then held on to her hand the whole way out of the theater, and didn't let go until they were out by the street. He was shocked that he didn't want to let go, that he wanted that simple human contact.

It was obvious that he had quite a bit to note down in his experimental journal on his return home, and it was also getting painfully obvious to him that this secret between himself and Penny couldn't be kept from Leonard much longer. As he had so very few people he considered friends in the world, he didn't want his best friend to be cross with him.

But this always returned him to the fact that Leonard would be hurt by this development between he and Penny. Though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he wanted Leonard to be happy for him…happy that he was able to undertake this kind of an experiment with someone else, when he'd never had the desire to before. It was inevitable though, that Leonard would be displeased. He just hoped that Leonard would at least understand.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Some more time had passed since the night at Penny's play, but Sheldon was not able to summon up the courage needed to speak with her about his revelations regarding their experiment, as he never did well with interactions that involved emotions. This was probably the least scientific experiment he'd ever engaged in, in his whole life, but something made him feel as though the results of this experiment were just as important as results of his experiments regarding string theory.

He had never thought something so unrelated to physics would earn such a priority in his mind, but somehow…she had. Thoughts of Penny were now as frequent in his mind as his equations and hypotheses and experimental protocols. There was the frightening possibility that these emotions that had sprung within him, these strange emotions that certainly were not appropriate between just friends with benefits, would be rejected by Penny.

It irritated him how he would not know this without asking her. No amount of predicting or theorizing would give him the answer he needed, so all he was left with were his convoluted thoughts and confusing feelings. He finally decided he needed a focus, or he would indeed drive himself insane. He hated not knowing the answer to a question as necessary as this one.

As he planned to be alone for some time, Leonard at the lab to do an experiment that could only be conducted at night, and Penny not scheduled to come over for another two hours to play Halo with him, he decided his focus would be music. He got out the electronic keyboard he usually kept hidden in his room and brought it to the living room. He then set it on the living room table and sat in his spot, thinking of Penny and beginning to play.

He had not given himself free reign over a keyboard in an excessively long period, so to play so freely without a complicated arrangement in mind was relaxing, in a way. His mother explained to him how music could soothe someone's soul, and he could now see why. With so many uncertainties in his relationship with Penny, such comfort was certainly welcome.

As he played, his face slowly relaxed, and he closed his eyes and let his fingers fly over the keys, letting himself get lost in the music. He didn't realize that he'd softly started humming along with the beautiful, haunting melody he'd started playing, the image of Penny becoming clearer in his mind. She truly was lovely, he decided.

Another thing he didn't realize was just how distracted he was, as he did not make sure the apartment door was locked after Leonard had left. He missed the knock on the door signaling Penny's arrival, and he also didn't realize that she tried the door herself and so let herself in.

Sheldon was too busy humming along with his tune to see the way Penny watched him play with pleasant surprise written on her features, and the way her eyes were drawn to his skilled fingers as he played, so oblivious to his surroundings.

Finally his piece came to an end and he stopped humming and opened his eyes. Promptly, he made a squeaky, startled noise and his face flushed on seeing her.

He sputtered slightly as he said, "Penny...I-I didn't hear you come in. How did you enter? Was the door unlocked?"

A look of awe was still reminiscent on her face as she ignored his questions and said with a small smile, "Sheldon, that was really pretty...I knew you could play the piano, but I didn't know you could play like this."

His face somehow found a way to get even redder, and he shakily got up and said, "I-I have to lock the door. I don't want intruders to gain entry."

Sheldon tried to control his heart and breathing rates as he walked to the door, got the key from the key bowl, and securely locked it. He did not intend for Penny to hear the music he was playing for her. It was just meant for himself. But as she took a seat next to his spot on the couch, he couldn't find a way to be annoyed at her. He was just now miffed at her sudden entry and at the fact she was actually punctual.

He finally returned to his spot on the couch and stiffly sat next to her. Of course he couldn't hide his discomfort at being heard unexpectedly, and she reached out to touch his knee in soft way she often did now and quietly said, "Honey, you really do play beautifully."

Sheldon couldn't help but make a small scoffing noise as he replied dryly, "Contrary to your prior belief, I can indeed play without being intoxicated."

She then laughed and patted his knee one more time, saying in amusement, "The other guys should hear you. You actually do have a sense of humor!"

Sheldon's lips then twitched upward in a way that he found himself doing far more frequently than in the past in response to her quip. The look on her face then turned a little hopeful as she asked, "Will you play me another?"

Sheldon blinked and he felt a tremor of nervousness go through him. He had never performed for anyone except for his family, and even then, it was only his mother who had any desire to listen to him play. He didn't want to bore Penny with music he was sure didn't hold any interest with her, but he couldn't refuse, not when she asked him so hopefully.

He finally shakily asked, "What would you have me play?"

She grinned when he didn't refuse, and she said, "I don't know. Something like you were playing when I came in?"

He took a breath to calm his anxiousness, though that was largely unsuccessful, and then he began to play again, closing his eyes again so that he wouldn't have to see those bright green ones watching him so closely. What he didn't see was how Penny's eyes were drawn to his fingers flowing effortlessly over the keys and how relaxed his face got when the music swept him away once more.

He'd definitely forgotten how it felt to just play like this, and he decided that this was an activity he could participate in more often given the calming effect it had on him, unlike most things in his life. He'd forgotten how it is nice not to think sometimes, and how music could do this for him. He hoped that he wouldn't forget again in the future.

But the serenity was abruptly brought to an end when Penny suddenly grabbed his arm. He stopped playing and his eyes flew open in surprise. The look he found her giving him made his nervousness and anxiousness rise by tenfold. It was rather fascinating, the way her look found a way to be gentle, and yet smoldering and all encompassing, and it made his breath hitch. How could a single look from her do this to him, make him feel this way?

"Pen-?" His question was cut off by her leaning forward and meeting their lips together.

He gasped and stiffened at how suddenly, and without any warning, she got close to him, but his eyes quickly fell shut. His positioning was still rather awkward, since he was still mostly facing the piano, but this didn't seem to deter Penny one bit, as she pushed toward, poking lightly at his lips with her tongue, her hands coming up to cup his cheeks as they kissed.

His body trembled as he parted his lips for her, and his hands were shaking as he tried turning himself slightly to reach out and touch her sides. He tried to keep his breathing rate under control as he remembered to move his tongue against hers. This position was highly uncomfortable and inefficient, but Sheldon couldn't bring himself to move at all, especially when her hands began to move upward and toy with the hair at the nape of his neck.

His hands gripped just a little tighter at her sides as their kiss deepened significantly, and he sucked in a sharp breath. It seemed that after the realization he made regarding his feelings toward Penny, every action and contact between them took on a new kind of intensity they didn't carry before, and Sheldon found this to be overwhelming.

Finally, Penny pulled back slightly, and Sheldon took this opportunity to gasp for air. He then found her giving him a kind of mischievous smirk when he'd opened his eyes, and the look caused a shiver to run straight down his spine, and caused another soft, but strange, noise to come from his throat.

His instinct told him that she wanted more than just kissing, but the thought nearly horrified him. He'd done no further research on technique, due to the dubious search results he received from his research on kissing, so he was entirely unprepared for this.

Another thing he was unprepared for was her suddenly shifting and transferring herself to his lap. His arms instinctively tightened around her and he openly shuddered since so much of their bodies were suddenly in contact. Then he completely froze up when he was absolutely unsure of what to do.

She met lips with him again, her tongue now demandingly pushing past his lips as he struggled to keep up. She had thrown her arms around his neck and attempted to pull him even closer, even if Sheldon was sure it was quite impossible. Her lips finally broke from his, and Sheldon sucked in another loud breath. He was given no time to recover as her soft lips then began to press down his chin and toward his neck.

Sheldon found the light pressure from her lips to be maddening, and if he could think, he would have been considering how his neck was far more sensitive and receptive to these ministrations than he'd previously expected, and he would have run a cross analysis on lip sensitivity vs. neck sensitivity, but all he could do was make a soft moan, which he was glad to hear Penny return.

When he felt Penny's tongue dart out and lick softly at his neck, he made a strangled gasp, almost wondering how hygienic it was for her to be doing that, even if he showered often, who knows what kind of pathogens were floating around in the air and settling on his skin, but her hands then also moving to rub down his chest silenced the thought.

His hands were still on her back, as he wasn't sure where to move them. He would have tried to consider what movements of his hands would please Penny the most, but his lack of research made him hesitate. It wasn't like him to do something without extensive planning, so it was understandable for him to be uncomfortable in a situation that would require him to. That, and the blood rushing through his ears made it extremely difficult to keep his thoughts in any kind of order.

On kissing her way back up to his lips, Penny whispered, "Sheldon…touch me."

Sheldon couldn't figure out what she meant by that since so much of their bodies were in contact at that time, and this caused him to breathlessly reply, "But, Penny…I am touching you."

To this, she gave him a giggle that was no less breathless, and she spoke with amusement, "I don't think I've moved this slow with someone since junior high."

Sheldon silently considered her words with confusion. Though they were making small movements with their hands and arms, what they were doing could hardly be considered moving anywhere. Perhaps she was referring to progression through physical intimacy, as that would make far more sense in the situation they found themselves in.

She then pulled his hands from her back and took them in hers. Penny kept looking at him with a gaze that Sheldon couldn't classify as anything else but lustful, and it took his breath away. And that breath was definitely not coming back with the way she held his hands against her chest, and then moved them down to be touching her breasts.

Sheldon's eyes widened and he gasped, his hands immediately trembling. That mischievous smirk was back on her face, and she gave him a small encouraging nod. This caused Sheldon to gulp and give them an experimental squeeze. He immediately decided that they were of a nice softness and seemed to be of just the right diameter to fit in his palms. When he squeezed softly again, he clumsily caressed with his fingers and she gave him a pleased murmur in response.

Sheldon decided that this situation called for blind experimentation, something he had to learn as he went along with it. Based on her increase in breathing rate and the way she canted her chest toward him slightly let him know he was on the right track. He then rubbed and squeezed with just a little more confidence and she moaned. Sheldon's own breath then caught in his throat as he continued touching her, carefully relaxing into these new motions, realizing it wasn't as nerve wracking as he thought it would be to do these sort of things.

Penny then found a way to wriggle herself just a little closer to his body, and it caused her to slide just a little more soundly into his lap, and it caused a rush of extremely pleasurable sensations through him. When his mind finished spinning, he tried to figure out just why that was, and he realized that her posterior was squared directly over his penis. Penny seemed to know this as she circled her hips slightly over him to cause more friction and that certainly increased his arousal to heights he was certain it had never reached before.

How interesting that sensation was so strong even through their clothes…he could hardly even perceive what it would be like if she was touching his bare skin. That thought sent a shiver through him, and when he met eyes with Penny again, she'd grabbed his hands again and moved them lower to rest on her belt.

"Sheldon." She spoke softly, but firmly.

It was a command, he was sure, but to do what exactly? When he just tried to finally catch his breath, and didn't move his hands, Penny took the liberty of leading him once again, using one of her own hands to undo her belt and pants button, and then guiding his hands to rest just inside, with his fingertips just brushing the hem of her panties at her hips. He found that they seemed to be trimmed with lace, perhaps the small black pair he'd thrown upon the telephone wires outside of their building months ago, as they had a similar feeling to them.

On the investigation of what sort of lace lined Penny's panties, he felt her quiver slightly and she moaned, "Sheldon…please."

Sheldon instantly wished that she was just a little more specific with her requests so that he wouldn't have to guess at what she wanted him to do. Perhaps this was part of the mystique of the act. If one requested something and then got exactly that, some of the excitement might be removed. Another observation to put in his experimental notes. With this in mind, he moved his trembling fingers to rub gently against her vagina, gasping at how moistened her panties felt.

He may have no experience in these matters, but it was obvious to him that Penny's body was prepared for intercourse. His conclusion on this matter was further supported in the tension he felt in her abdominal muscles under his other hand and the way that her face had flushed. He wondered if his face looked similarly as she moaned her approval of his action.

"Yes…" she gasped, and his penis hardened more nearly immediately.

It appeared that not only touch sensation had the ability to arouse. Auditory and visual sensations also seemed to compound his arousal. It seemed that she wanted him to keep going with the way her hips unconsciously moved along with his fingers in an attempt to get more friction, and even if the physiological clues from her body indicated extreme strain, she still didn't want him to stop. He figured that this was supposed to happen, since she did not seem concerned by this.

The movement of her hips also caused further friction against his penis, so he especially had no reason to deny her, and though the movement of his fingers were quite restricted by her pants, he tried to move them a little faster.

She then moaned softly to him, "Yes, Shel—I-I'm— "

They both suddenly heard the front door knob of the apartment being jiggled from the outside, and then there was a loud knock accompanied by, "Hey, it's Leonard! Let me in!"

The mood was effectively broken between them, and Sheldon hastened to remove his hand from her pants. Unfortunately there was a bit of friction in getting his hand out of the constricted space created by her tight pants and by the time his hand was out, she'd thrown her head back and made a noise that sounded somewhere between a moan and a grunt. From the look on her face, it most likely was entirely unintentional.

Sheldon had no time to think on what that meant or whether it was heard by Leonard or not. He'd lightly tossed Penny back on the spot next to his, and unconsciously he wiped his hand on his own spot, his movements hastened by another knock and yell from Leonard on the other side of the door. Suddenly he stiffened up when he realized what he had just done.

He'd soiled his spot on the couch. His spot! He suddenly yelped, forgetting about Leonard for the time being, though he was still knocking, ripping the cushion off the couch and running with it to the bathroom, leaving Penny looking after him dazedly as she hurried to catch her breath.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Penny's mind was racing as she lay back on the couch for a moment as she struggled to catch her breath. Friends with benefits with Sheldon or not, she couldn't believe it was Sheldon that made her feel that good. Maybe not having had sex for a good four or five months also had something to do with it, but it was still Sheldon. Yes, it was her who'd made the first move in their strange relationship, but sometimes she just acted without thinking.

She figured that it would just be a spur of the moment kind of thing, and then she would apologize to Sheldon and pretend it never happened. She never expected him to come over and actually want to talk about how their relationship was now different. Maybe her jumping into things without looking usually got her into trouble, but now…she just might have gotten lucky.

Though, she didn't have enough time to think on this, as she still looked disheveled and flushed, and Leonard was still outside the door. She quickly switched on the TV and the XBOX 360, thankful that Sheldon had thought ahead to already have Halo 3 in there, as that was their original plan. She then took a deep breath and moved to the door to unlock it for Leonard.

"Oh, hey Penny. I thought for a second that you guys had gone out and that I'd be out of luck. I'd forgotten my keys when I left to do my work, I didn't want to drive all the way back here right away when I realized. I figured that you guys might be around." Leonard said with a friendly smile that somehow made Penny feel guilty.

She smiled back sheepishly and picked up one of the 360 controls and said, "Well, you know, we were just so into Halo."

Then when he walked into the apartment, he noticed the missing cushion from Sheldon's spot and then Leonard finally gave Penny a strange look for her appearance. She held in a cringe as she plopped back down on the couch, admittedly her knees still being a little shaky from her completely unexpected orgasm.

Leonard took a seat in a near by chair and then looked at her closer. She felt as though she was one of his lab experiments and fidgeted slightly. Finally, with his brows scrunched in what was probably suspicion and confusion, he asked in what sounded like concern, "Is everything okay? And where's Sheldon and the couch cushion?"

Penny couldn't stop herself from laughing awkwardly, realizing that the truth was the last thing she wanted to tell him. Not only because of the fact that the two of them had tried dating unsuccessfully, but the fact that Sheldon was Leonard's best friend. For a long time, she figured that she and the whackadoodle would, at most, strike some kind of understanding between the two of them that would barely count as friendship.

But, she found that there was far more to him than she ever expected. As strange as he was, he was still human. He couldn't hide that from her, especially not now. She'd seen that he had the same wants and needs as everyone else, he just needed a little extra prodding to admit it.

"Everything's fine." She quickly and sheepishly said, "I just, uhh…made him spill some grape juice on his spot."

She laughed awkwardly one more time and added, "You know how he is about his spot."

Leonard's brow seemed to scrunch a little more, and she wasn't sure he was buying what she was saying, especially given her appearance, but she let out a sigh of relief when he finally chuckled a little and said dryly, "Too well."

After a moment of silence, Leonard said, "I'd thought that you guys were fighting about something, since when I knocked, I thought I heard something that wasn't Halo."

"Ahh." Penny struggled to get her mind straight, as it was always difficult after she came like that, "It probably was me yelling about…the grape juice."

"Oh." Leonard raised an eyebrow, but then he nodded, apparently accepting her words, though it seemed it was in slight reluctance.

She couldn't blame him. It would take someone absolutely oblivious not to realize something was off. She figured also that she was slightly nervous, since after their not so successful date, she didn't spend much time with just Leonard, due to the awkwardness she knew they'd feel. She knew that with some more time, the awkwardness would fade, but she wasn't sure that Leonard had quite moved on from her yet.

It was at this time Sheldon came out with the cushion in his arms, and his eyes locked on both Leonard and Penny sitting in the living room, and on replacing the cushion in its place, he sat and stiffly said, "Leonard, you're back unexpectedly."

"Ahh, yeah. Our Argon laser broke down again. Tomorrow we're going to try fixing it, but we decided to just call it quits for tonight." Leonard said with a tired sigh, seeming as though his work was being much more trouble than it was worth.

Penny knew how that felt, her work at the Cheesecake Factory with impossible customers, and all the unsuccessful acting jobs she had landed before her current one speaking for her own experience in that area. Before she could express any sympathy, Sheldon spoke up, "It isn't surprising, given the elemental minds that constructed your machinery. There are only so many 'quick fixes' that are acceptable in an experimental design before the whole idea becomes moot."

Leonard seemed used to these kind of comments from Sheldon, and he rolled his eyes, saying in sarcasm, "Gee, thanks for your concern, Sheldon."

Sheldon then stared at Leonard for a long moment, and said, "...Sarcasm?"

Leonard shook his head and said, "What ever gave you that idea?"

Penny barely held in her chuckle as Sheldon finally replied, "Sarcasm again?...Man, I am on fire tonight!"

Leonard made a small noise of frustration, and at that, Penny had to laugh. Leonard then smiled with her, both of them silently agreeing that Sheldon really could be impossible at times. But now, what had changed was the fact that since she was starting to see the person underneath, Sheldon's quirks became more tolerable, and sometimes even endearing.

Penny internally laughed and decided that she really had to have it bad for Sheldon to actually find something like his unnatural obsession with his spot to be endearing now. The thought surprised her. She was starting to suspect for a little while that it wasn't just the physical side of things she liked with Sheldon. God forbid, she actually liked spending time with the whacky, sometimes condescending, physicist.

And she was starting to believe that Sheldon actually liked spending time with her too. This caused a little smile to come to her face as she felt a little warm inside. Though Leonard broke her thoughts again by then turning to Sheldon and saying, "So, I heard about the grape juice on your spot."

Sheldon's eyebrows went up in surprise and he met widened eyes with Penny, and she grit her teeth. She knew just as well as Leonard how horrible he was at lying, and especially since he didn't know what she'd told Leonard. She gave him a quick nod to indicate that was what she told Leonard, and then Sheldon spoke haltingly, "Yes, my spot was besmirched by _grape juice_."

Leonard just raised an eyebrow at him and then said, "At least you got it out though."

At this, Sheldon glared a little at Penny and said, "Thankfully. The _grape juice_ was difficult to completely remove. It is fortunate I keep 90% ethanol on hand for such emergencies."

Penny just rolled her eyes, glad that Sheldon distracted enough from this lie by just being himself, and Leonard just dryly replied, "Yeah, fortunately."

Penny was still a little nervous though, since the slight suspicion still stayed on Leonard's face, and she hurriedly said, "Well, uhh. I have an early shift tomorrow at Cheesecake Factory, so I should probably get going."

She stood up from the couch, and so did Leonard and Sheldon to see her out.

"I wish you could have stayed longer since I hardly got to see you." Leonard said with another friendly smile that made her feel even more guilty.

She supposed they should talk to Leonard soon about things, but she didn't want to say anything, really. What if Sheldon didn't feel the way she did? He was Sheldon, after all. There really was no point to getting the boys in a fight if this really didn't go anywhere. And, it was natural for her to be scared when a thing seemed to be going well. She always felt as though she was the one that did something to mess things up.

Not this time. She would wait until she was absolutely sure of what she felt before she'd say anything to Leonard or Sheldon. She supposed that Sheldon would want the same thing, being so methodical in his thinking and all.

When she moved toward the door, Sheldon opened it for her and said, "Thank you for the lovely evening of…_Halo_."

She smiled and nearly cringed at the way he said 'Halo,' wishing that he could at least learn how to fib with a little skill when Leonard turned to give Sheldon a weird look, and then he turned back to speak to her, "So, you'll be back on Chinese food night?"

Penny then glanced at Sheldon, and she felt her grin grow when she saw the barest hints of a smile on his face when they met eyes.

"Always! See you boys later."

She then turned and then moved toward her own apartment, feeling just a little happier than she was earlier that day.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

In the following days, Sheldon's time with Penny on his spot on the couch was never that far from his mind. On his first available chance, he quickly noted down all his observations and physiological responses both he and Penny had as a result of the contact. He was also thankful that Leonard hadn't asked too many questions about their lie about the grape juice, though he was sure his friend harbored some sort of suspicions over the event.

But as Leonard had not approached him directly about it, his secret was once again safe. He supposed his friend had written it off as another one of his idiosyncrasies, though he was sure the other wasn't aware of just how wrong he was. On reading over his notebook again, he realized that in his hurry to remove his hand from Penny's pants, he more than likely had caused her to orgasm at that point in time. His face reddened slightly as he recalled the noise she made and the look on her face. He wouldn't mind attempting to garner a similar reaction from her on future opportunities for physical contact with her, as he seemed to get pleasure from seeing hers.

He found it quite curious that in the past, he had scoffed at Leonard, Howard, and Raj for wanting this kind of contact with a female, but he was slowly starting to see the benefits. He was in the process of noting these things down in his experimental notes, trying to hurry as Howard and Raj were to come over and the four of them were to go to the comic book store.

He had also now gotten quite adept at finding excuses to visit Penny at least once on the days she wasn't scheduled to come over to spend time with them, and on this day, he carefully closed his experimental journal on noting that Penny would be long done with her shift by now, and he turned to Leonard to say, "I allowed Penny to borrow the latest expansion of Age of Conan, so I will be collecting that from her at this time."

Leonard looked up from his own computer to say in some amusement, "I'd say don't be late since the guys are supposed to come over in half an hour, but, it is you."

Sheldon just nodded, as he knew Leonard would be well informed of his need to be punctual by this point. He then stood from his desk chair and moved to her apartment. He was surprised to find Penny's door ajar, but she could hear her and another female's voice as he approached, so he was assured that it was not a break in.

Letting out a sigh of relief at that, he planned to lecture Penny on the good sense of making sure one's door was locked at all times, given the news of burglaries in the area. He raised his hand to knock on the slightly open door anyway, as he was not comfortable in just simply entering anyone's apartment that was not his own.

Before his hand could hit the door, he stopped mid knock on hearing his name. Curiosity took a hold of him and he stood still to listen for a moment.

"…So, this Sheldon. Are you guys, you know…together?" Sheldon immediately realized that this was one of Penny's friends he had the misfortune of meeting after her play performance, the one named Lauryl.

And her voice carried what he might classify as…trepidation? He wasn't certain. He would listen some more and see.

Penny seemed to give a bit of a laugh and replied, "And what if we are?"

Lauryl chuckled, though it seemed to be in more of a mocking fashion and replied, "Look, Penny…I know you're looking for a different kind of guy after Kurt, but he's just so…weird."

Penny laughed again, and she said in a tone that Sheldon found to be tender, "I know he's sorta different. But…I don't know…when you get to know him you'd see that in spite of that weirdness, he's…just great."

"But how do you understand anything he says? When I heard him, I thought he was definitely making things up." Lauryl said, sounding suspicious.

Sheldon sputtered softly. He was most certainly not 'making things up.' This friend of Penny's not only seemed to be uninformed in the finer points of Star Trek, she also seemed to need an education in the basic principles of physics as well.

Penny's voice cut his indignant thoughts once more, "A lot of the science stuff is over my head, but…I've learned a lot because of him. And, it's kinda cool to learn these new things that I never would have otherwise."

Lauryl then spoke in disbelief, "Sure, Pen…whatever. If you wanna date him, I guess that's your own business. I'd much rather date Bill from the play."

When the both of them giggled, Sheldon decided he was done listening to the conversation, so he began his special knock, "Penny, Pen— "

She interrupted him and said happily, "Oh, Sheldon, come in. You remember Lauryl from the play, don't you?"

Sheldon blinked and said, "You and your friend Sara appeared to have a poor grasp on the important tenets of physics and of the true reasons one should watch Star Trek."

Penny laughed awkwardly at Sheldon's words to cut off her friend's possible retort and said, "Oh, Sheldon, you're so funny sometimes."

Sheldon's look then turned confused. He wasn't aware of any kind of humor in his tone. And this was definitely no bazinga. He was dead serious. But then Penny smiled at him and made that warmth come up inside him in a way that made him think of heartburn, but he'd found that this feeling was a natural one that had nothing to do with his digestive tract.

As he attempted to formulate some kind of response, Lauryl interjected, "Well, Pen, thanks for letting me borrow the shoes, but I've got to get going."

She smiled at Penny and then made her way to the door with a pair of Penny's shoes in her hand. They were a pair of Penny's black high heels. Quite a ridiculous pair of shoes, as they didn't appear able to provide proper lumbar support for when she walked, but…perhaps they did have a certain visual appeal to them when they were on her feet. Only on Penny's feet though. He hardly thought he'd appreciate seeing the shoes on any other female.

Lauryl and Penny said their goodbyes while Sheldon waited. When she left, Penny shut the door behind them and said in a slight scolding tone, but her smile hinted that she wasn't actually irritated with him, "You could have been a little nicer, you know."

Sheldon huffed slightly and said, "I wasn't trying to nice or unpleasant. I was just stating fact."

Penny chuckled, approached him to put a light hand on his arm and say, "It's just that most people take your facts the wrong way."

"That is hardly my concern, Penny. If someone cannot handle hearing the truth, they're hardly worth talking to." Sheldon insisted, though his tone and expression softened slightly when Penny touched him.

Such seemed to be a standard effect over the last few weeks.

She laughed and shook her head, speaking in amusement and some sarcasm, "It's a wonder that you don't have more friends."

Sheldon was about to reply, but then he realized that it was meant to be a rhetorical statement. Though he still found most social cues baffling, he felt as though he was making improvements in that area thanks to Penny. Interesting the things one can learn when he or she is open to it.

After a moment of silence, Sheldon said, "Leonard, Raj, Howard, and I are to visit the comic book store tonight, as per usual. You are welcome to join us if you wish."

She grinned at him and caressed his arm a little that sent those familiar little shivers through him, and said, "That's okay, honey. You guys go and have fun, okay?"

He nodded and said, "Very well. Also, I was wondering if you finished installing the Age of Conan expansion I was good enough to let you borrow."

She grinned as she walked over to a small side table in the room where the CD was sitting, and she handed it over to Sheldon, grinning and replying, "Oh, yeah, thanks for that by the way. You were totally right, the quests in the expansion are way more fun."

He took it back from her and examined it closely, checking the disc for any scratches or dirt on it, pleased to find that it was in as pristine condition as he had lent it to her in, and he commented, "It appeared you followed my strict rules of CD and DVD disc care, so thank you for that."

"Oh, yeah. It was no problem. I now see the importance of proper disc care and maintenance." Penny said in a teasing tone.

Sheldon carefully looked at her and the slightest of pouts came to his face as he replied, "Judging by your tone, I do not believe you took my instructions very seriously."

She laughed and leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek as she replied playfully in a bit of a humoring tone, "Of course I took you seriously, sweetie."

Sheldon's brow furrowed just slightly in disbelief, but the kiss cut off any more arguing he was going to do. His heart rate rose once again, as he looked at her, and he let himself do what his gut told him. He leaned forward to press a soft kiss to her lips. He trembled slightly on making such a move on his own initiative, but he didn't let himself lose his courage, and he held it as long as his breath held out.

Sheldon decided that he must be getting better at this, since Penny reacted positively to the action by making what he thought to be a contented sound and pulling him a little closer, and on finishing the kiss, she grinned at him in that way that he was starting to love.

In a moment, Sheldon shuffled away from her shyly, and rather reluctantly, saying, "I have to return to my apartment now. We are to leave for the comic book store in another five minutes, and it would not do for me to be late."

She took his hands and gave them a squeeze, saying, "Alright, honey. I guess I'll see you later."

Sheldon nodded and said, "Goodbye, Penny."

He then quickly left her apartment with his Age of Conan CD, feeling as if he stayed a second longer, he just wouldn't want to leave at all.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Some weeks later, Sheldon found himself in a spot. Cal Tech was throwing a fancy get together to honor him for the important part his research was playing in a large interdepartmental cooperative project. That was no surprise, given that he was aiming for the Nobel Prize with his work. But, this being a large accomplishment, he wished to share it with Penny, especially since she got to share with him something important in her life.

This was all well and good, but the problem lay in Sheldon asking her to accompany him. He was not sure if it would fall under the category of a 'date' if he did. It was true that he was starting to perhaps feel this 'something' that Penny proposed they searched for at the beginning of their experiment, but he still had not the courage to find if she felt the same.

He knew that if she did, it meant that the experiment was over, and that they would have to tell Leonard. As he considered that possibility, he felt his stomach turn slightly in anxiousness. Leonard was his best friend, and he didn't enjoy the chance that he would not be pleased with him. He could understand all of the reasons why Leonard wouldn't be happy, but he had an unexplainable hope that his friend would not be as upset with him as he suspected he would be.

He shifted his mind away from the issue that Leonard would have back to his own. Would him inviting her to this event count as a date? Due to his lack of courage in approaching Penny, they were still classified as friends with benefits, and he understood that friends with benefits did not 'date.' And, from past Cal Tech functions that were held, his colleagues did not seem to bring friends or acquaintances, they only seemed to bring their significant others.

Is that what he wished Penny to be considered? His girlfriend? It would follow that she should be considered so, as his research on the subject of 'something' between people led them to declare they were in a relationship, and through logical deduction, he would have to conclude that if he thought he felt the 'something,' his relationship with her should transition to the boyfriend/girlfriend state.

That is, if it is a mutual agreement. This he still had to find out, though, he figured that collection of more data to support his claim may help his case, so it perhaps would be best to find her thoughts after he asked her to come to the function. One evening, when Leonard was off at his lab again, he knocked his special way at Penny's door and waited for her to answer.

On opening the door, she grinned at him and said, "Hey, Sheldon. What's up?"

He took a breath and then plowed forward, knowing that there was no other way to approach this, as strange as he felt about the whole situation himself.

"I am to be honored by Cal Tech for playing an essential role in a project that was being collaborated on by the physics, biology, and engineering departments, as my role brought the whole project to fruition." Sheldon spoke, straightening up a little proudly, as he always did when he spoke of his work.

Penny's grin seemed to find a way to grow, and she surprised him with a sudden hug and said, "Oh, honey, that's great!"

He sucked in a surprised breath, but at least his body didn't stiffen. He let his hands rest on the middle of her back, and he held her close for a long moment. He took a breath as they finally pulled back and continued to speak, "The function is to take place this Friday evening, beginning at 7pm. I…would be most gratified if you were to attend it with me, as Raj, Howard, and Leonard are to come as well."

He didn't have to sweat out whether she would answer positively or not, since she immediately replied, "Sheldon, I'd love to!"

He blinked at the quick agreement, and he decided that at a later time he would have to encourage Penny to think her decisions through fully before agreeing to anything, but as her agreement served him in this instance, he did not want to jeopardize her current decision.

Then he nodded and added dryly, "You will have to wear formal attire, as I was told it is to be a formal event. I, unfortunately, have to obtain appropriate items to wear as my trusted plaid suit shrunk, thanks to Leonard putting it in the wash with our blankets, thinking it was one of them."

Sheldon's eyes widened when he saw the way Penny's lit up and she said, "So, does this mean we can go shopping together?"

"I suppose we could go shopping at the same time, but I am very partic— " Sheldon was hurriedly cut off by Penny's excited tone, and his face twitched.

He hated being interrupted, but as it was Penny, something made it easier for him to accept.

"Oh, I know just where we're going to go shopping! We're going to look amazing, I promise you!" she surprised him with another hug.

"I don't have the data to support such a conclusion, Penny." Sheldon said as he let out a partly suffered breath.

But, Sheldon couldn't say he was completely distressed by this development, especially since it seemed to make Penny so happy, though how the woman could get this excited about shopping when no comic books, robots, or electronic paraphernalia were the items of interest was lost on him.

From the way Penny squeezed and then kissed him, he grudgingly accepted the fact that he seemed to have very little choice in this situation.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Before the night of the event at Cal Tech, Penny dragged Sheldon to several garment stores, none of which were his choices, but he let her. It was because of that bright smile. If there was something that had unexpected persuasive ability, it was definitely Penny's smile. His next experiment would definitely be just how her smile carried such power over him. If his suspicions were right, it wasn't only him, it was anyone she directed it towards. Perhaps this power could be channeled for other uses. This is another note he would make to himself to look into at a later time.

But at this time, he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror one more time, wearing the dark suit she choose for him. He didn't understand why she would not even allow him near the plaid suits that he so loved. Though, as he straightened the maroon bow tie and white shirt he was wearing as well, he figured he was as ready as ever.

Leonard was fortunate enough to be able to wear his usual brown corduroy suit. At least he could have something familiar to wear. He walked out of the bathroom, exactly five minutes before they were to fetch Penny, and he found Leonard waiting in the living room for him.

"Wow, you look different not in plaid." Leonard commented after giving him a long look.

Sheldon could only raise an eyebrow at Leonard and reply, "How astute of you to point out that I look different in something I have never worn before. It's a wonder that your work hasn't made much progress in your years at Cal Tech."

Leonard then looked at him impatiently, obviously used to his quips by now, and said, "What's obvious is that Penny has far better taste than you in clothes. It's a wonder that you never got your ass kicked at any of the conferences we went to in your old suit."

Sheldon gave Leonard his customary return glare and then said, "We should inform Penny that we are ready to leave now."

Leonard shook his head a little at Sheldon, in a way he seemed to do whenever he told him the truth about most of anything, and then he lead the way out of their apartment. Sheldon made sure the door was firmly locked behind them, while Leonard went to knock on Penny's door.

Sheldon just finished at his own door as he turned toward Penny's and his eyes widened a little as they centered on her. She was truly lovely, her dress made of a maroon chiffon that matched his bow tie, going down to her knee, and a delicate looking satin band that went around her waist.

He might have been dragged along to stores with her during the clothes shopping, but she insisted on surprising him with the dress on the night of the event. Now, he could not deny that she had accomplished her purpose. He glanced over at Leonard, and found that his mouth had dropped open, presumably on account of Penny's appearance.

Typical. Leonard's behavior around extremely attractive females was almost painfully predictable, and this was proving to be no exception. But when Penny finally met eyes with him and then grinned, his knees inexplicably weakened for just a moment. Another strange power her smile had to add to his list. He definitely would have brought his experimental notebook along for this, but Penny informed him that it was 'tacky' for him to carry anything around in clothing such as this.

Sheldon wasn't sure if he believed her, but as she was far more of an expert in 'dressing up,' he was still inclined to take her advice on the matter, even if it conflicted with his own ideas. He thought himself an expert in many topics, but etiquette at formal events wasn't one of them.

He moved closer to them as Leonard practically tripped over himself to say, "You look…great. Yeah. You look really great."

Leonard laughed awkwardly as Sheldon rolled his eyes. It wasn't that Penny didn't look enchanting, which she did very much so, it was the fact that Leonard's articulation, though pithy compared to his, took a nose dive whenever they happened to be in close proximity to a female that looked just the way Penny did.

Sheldon couldn't help but let his lips twitch upward just slightly as he heard Penny's reply laugh as she said, "Thank you, Leonard."

She met eyes with him again and said with a small amount of playfulness, "Well, Sheldon, you're looking rather nice in that suit."

Sheldon could then just clear his throat in mild discomfort, as he never liked attention on him for reasons that were not of his own machination, and said, "And you also look acceptable."

Her smile then took on just a bit of tenderness as she said, "Thank you."

"So…shall we get going?" Leonard said, giving her his goofy smile and holding out an arm to her.

Penny seemed to have some discomfort flash on her face for just a moment, Sheldon wasn't sure since the look did seem to pass so quickly, and then she took Leonard's offered arm. As Leonard led them to his car, there was something about Penny holding on to his arm like that, that didn't sit well with Sheldon.

He felt another brief surge of what he was sure was jealousy through him at the sight, but he didn't say anything about it as Leonard knew nothing of this 'something' between he and Penny, and so could not be blamed for the actions he took toward her. Sheldon realized that saying something on the issue would reveal his relationship with Penny in an undesirable way, so he especially kept quiet, though he was unable to stop his face from twitching just a little.

They got into Leonard's car, as he insisted on driving them, and though it was normal for him to usually sit beside Leonard in the passenger seat when they went places in the car together, he allowed Penny the seat, as someone dressed the way she was shouldn't be in a cramped back seat. It would wrinkle the chiffon of her dress unforgivably, and naturally Leonard wasn't resourceful enough to have a portable iron in his car.

He wasn't very talkative in the car, in spite of usually wanting to play some kind of game while they traveled, but he held his tongue, on knowing that something that may just upset Leonard might come from his mouth. The last time that had happened, he had to walk the remaining way to the destination, and that was the last thing he wanted to happen in this situation, especially since that would leave Penny alone with Leonard.

And he'd pity her for the awkwardness he knew that would bring. Finally, they reached the hotel that the event was to take place at, though Sheldon didn't understand why everyone had to go through this much trouble at a new place to have a party. Science wasn't about parties, it was about continuously striving to make the next discovery. Parties were superfluous, really.

But, since he was to be one of the people honored this evening, as he should be, he decided that it would alright for him to jump through the hoops at least for this occasion, as Penny seemed so happy to be accompanying him to this event. That, and it wasn't often that people asked him to speak about his work for unpretentious reasons.

The three of them had agreed to meet Howard and Raj there, and on stepping through the doors to the ballroom the awards were to be presented in, the two of them were chatting just inside. As always, Raj clammed up as the three of them approached, and Howard's expression went from surprise to what Sheldon deemed as 'smarmy,' and said, "Well, what have we here?"

Penny gave Howard what had to be a sarcastic smile, as she never expressed pleasure at those looks or that tone from him, and Sheldon had to now agree with her. She also said in a threatening tone, "Howard, if you value your family jewels, you will stop it right there."

Howard just about managed a bashful smile and replied, "Your beauty is truly one of a kind. I only wished to express to you my adulation, though I suppose there is little point in telling you what you already know."

This caused Leonard to speak partly dryly, partly in amusement, "What do you know, a dog can learn new tricks."

Howard didn't say anything, but he did glare in Leonard's direction. Raj appeared to be giggling at the comment, but it was silent, due to Penny's presence. Then Leonard asked, "So, what's the schedule this evening?"

"Well, we're having the mixer part right now, and in about an hour, Dr. Know-It-All has to give his little speech with the other people involved in the project." Howard said, referring to Sheldon with sarcasm.

Sheldon was slightly ruffled over the less than complimentary way Howard called him know-it-all, as he considered himself rather close to knowing it all. He wasn't a physicist for nothing, as that required him to have a thorough knowledge of the universe and all things in it.

Though, in the privacy of his own mind, he'd admit to having found himself mystified slightly by the effect Penny has had on him in the past few months, and to his shock, this observation wasn't as irritating or confounding as he'd expected it to be. And, he was conducting the experiment between them to further this knowledge as well, so soon he would feel comfortable with his knowledge of things once more.

Sheldon then nodded in a kind of stately way, and he said, "My colleagues in the other fields involved in this project, though far less focused in their work, had the honor of working with me, so I suppose this party is more for them then it is for me."

The other guys shook their heads at him in disbelief, but then everyone turned their eyes to Penny in shock when she laughed, and there wasn't a trace of sarcasm in her laugh. Sheldon knew it, he was getting much better at figuring these things out thanks to her.

She then moved toward him and patted his arm, saying, "I'm sure you'll wow them with all your know-how."

Sheldon then blinked, not even knowing where to start on the correction of her sentence, but the thing he did miss was everyone getting even more shocked at him not even flinching when she touched him. Before Leonard could ask any of the questions right at the tip of his tongue, as Raj and Howard knew well what was going on, Leonard's phone rang.

He fished it out of his pants and quickly answered, speaking easily at first, then getting more and more agitated, "Hey, Leslie. What? Are you kidding me? Okay, okay, I know you don't kid about this kind of stuff. What, how—No! Fine, I'm on my way!"

Leonard hung up with annoyance as everyone looked at him curiously, to which he replied, "Leslie told me that one of our Argon lasers blew up in lab. I have to go there immediately to help with the clean up."

"Aww, Leonard, that sucks! I hope you can fix it." Penny added.

Perhaps her words did nothing to rectify the situation, but Sheldon could now see that she meant well, and didn't like any of them to be unhappy. Except maybe Howard. He was still not sure if she took joy in his unhappiness or not. Another valid hypothesis to look into when he had the time.

"Yeah, Penny, thanks. I guess I'll talk to you guys later. You can tell me if I miss anything then." Leonard said, his tone grim as he, no doubt, tried to grasp at how his shoddily designed experiment could be salvaged from this failure.

Sheldon felt as though Leonard had his work cut out for him. He gave him a nod as the others said goodbye to him, and then the four of them were left with each other. They just had appetizers and drinks that waiters were bringing around for the guests and the guys talked about their work.

At least Sheldon and Howard spoke. Raj just seemed to smile and nod a lot, or sometimes whispered a choice comment into Howard's ear. A few minutes before Sheldon was to give his speech, one of his colleagues and his wife came up to congratulate him for the honor.

"Dr. Cooper. Congratulations for earning this honor. No one expected this project to grow quite the way it has."

"The links you found between the disciplines were impressive to hear."

Sheldon then gave the man and his wife a magnanimous nod and said, "Thank you Drs. Harris. Honor isn't quite the word I would use, as Cal Tech has had trouble recognizing greatness in the past. I would say that this distinction was owed to me."

Sheldon could see the looks on both of their faces were strange, and that let him think that perhaps what he'd said, though true, was not the correct response to give in the situation. Penny seemed to recognize his mistake and suddenly moved forward to take his arm and say to them, "Oh, Sheldon, you tell the best jokes. He means to say that he's so happy to be getting the…recognition."

She nodded proudly, no doubt because her vocabulary since spending time with the four of them had markedly improved, and he had to say he was glad she was making these steps. Though, now both of their attentions were directed to her, and the female Dr. Harris said in an appraising tone, "I don't believe I've seen you at any other work functions. Dr. Cooper has never brought anyone with him before."

Penny then smiled a little shyly, and said, "Hi, I'm Penny Kalman. I'm…Sheldon's neighbor across the hall."

The way Penny hesitated in her description of herself caused Sheldon to glance at her in interest. Perhaps if she was even unsure about the definition of their relationship, it was possible that she was experiencing the same dissonance he was over it.

The female Dr. Harris then raised an eyebrow at Penny, and said, "What is your profession? I don't recall hearing of you in any of the Cal Tech departments."

"Oh," Penny laughed, her face coloring in what was obviously embarrassment, "I don't work with science. I'm…an actress."

Even if Sheldon wasn't quite adept at reading all facial expressions, the one that flashed over both Drs. Harris' faces was most likely disdain. He still had some difficulty differentiating between other expressions and constipation though.

When the husband and wife exchanged a look, the wife then said, "So what do you think of Dr. Cooper's stipulation in the interdisciplinary project that Cal Tech has been putting a considerable sum of their money into?"

Sheldon saw Penny's eyes widen in the surprise of the sudden question, and she stuttered slightly, "U-uhh…well, Sheldon usually seems to know what he's talking about, so I'm sure his, uhh, stipulation was a good one."

Sheldon's brow furrowed slightly at hearing his stipulation was 'a good one,' but he was not offended, as he long knew that Penny didn't have such a tight grasp of just what he did, so she was forgiven for the most part, though he did not like the path that this conversation was taking one bit.

Dr. Harris then said with an impatient eyebrow raised, "So you do believe that string theory plays an important role in the physical microcohesion found in the cell membranes of eukaryotes?

"Well, something has to hold all the little bits together!" Penny replied, giving an awkward laugh as an embarrassed blush came up on her cheeks.

Sheldon nearly cringed at what Penny said about string theory, but now he was more concerned about her feeling uncomfortable in this situation with his colleagues.

After a long moment, a patronizing smile came to her face and she said, "I see. Science, obviously, isn't for everyone. It takes a certain kind of talent."

She then turned to look at Sheldon with her eyebrow raised again in that judging kind of way and added as she and her husband made to walk away, "Congratulations again, Dr. Cooper."

Sheldon bristled, especially at the hurt expression that flashed over Penny's face, and when he glanced over at Raj and Howard, the two of them looked uncomfortable too. Sheldon was used to people speaking this way to him his whole life, but Penny…no one had the right speak that way to her, especially when she obviously had no coping mechanisms for reacting to such behavior.

He decided that later he would have to teach her the mantra he recited in his head when he encountered people as such, 'Those with lesser mind capabilities could not possibly have the ability to comprehend.'

But for the time being he spoke quickly, his tone going marginally higher as he defended her, his adrenaline rushing as he'd never tried standing up for someone before, "Though I feel Penny is the physical embodiment of entropy at times, through her long and hard work, she has shown great talent in her profession. Even if you cannot respect her chosen profession, such tenacity has to be appreciated. So I believe my girlfriend deserves an apology."

Sheldon definitely had not expected some of those words to tumble out of his mouth when he started speaking, and neither had anyone standing with him, judging by their surprised expressions. Penny's face was probably the most fascinating of all of his friends, since happiness and surprise were warring for dominance on her features. Raj and Howard, on the other hand, just were staring at him with their mouths dropped open in shock.

He couldn't understand just what they all found to be so shocking, but he stood resolutely beside Penny and glared at the woman that insulted her for no acceptable reason, until the woman made a kind of huff noise and said to them both, "Miss Kalman, I meant no disrespect. Until later, Dr. Cooper."

Sheldon's colleague and his wife then quickly made their way off, and Penny, Raj, and Howard were still looking at him in shock. Sheldon just raised his eyebrow at them and calmly asked, "What?"

"Way to stand up for your woman, man." Howard said, nodding his head toward Sheldon in approval, and then he looked at Penny and continued with a smirk just touching the edges of his lips, "And what a woman."

Penny's eye twitched a little and she spoke warningly, "Howard…"

"Right, right, I get it. I'm sure the lovely lady and Dr. Know-It-All would like a moment to talk. Let's go scope out the single girls here." Howard said, giving Penny a wink.

Then Raj leaned over to whisper into Howard's ear and it caused Howard to make a noise in annoyance.

"Yeah, I know that most of the single women here are 50 and over, but they're still girls." Howard replied quietly, but apparently not quietly enough, as Penny and Sheldon could clearly hear what he was saying.

Raj frowned and then thought for a moment, finally nodding in agreement. As the two of them walked off, Penny laughed while Sheldon let out an annoyed sigh at their usual antics.

When they had a measure of privacy again, Penny turned to him and had a shy, but hopeful expression on her face, and she said, "Sheldon…did you mean what you just said? I mean, about me being your girlfriend. You didn't just say that to tell that stuck up woman off, did you?"

Sheldon locked eyes with her, and felt a strong sense of nervousness run through him, but he didn't let it reach his voice as he replied to her calmly, "No, I did not just 'make it up.' I have felt for some time that the unfortunately vague term described you well in reference to myself."

That grin of Penny's that always made his heart skip came to her face again, and he felt she was an embodiment of beauty in that moment. He wasn't given to such sentimental and emotional trains of thought often, but he felt as though there was no other way to describe her in that moment. Most adjectives he knew would not do her justice.

"So…you do want me to be your girlfriend?"

Sheldon sighed and realized that she would require a bit more explanation. She obviously was not taking very thorough notes, if at all, on their experiment.

"In our experiment, our stipulation for beginning this 'friends with benefits' relationship between the two of us was the possibility of there being 'something' between us that was missing between you and Leonard. Over this time, my extensive notes on our interactions, my physiological responses caused by your proximity, and the strange new emotions that have been caused in me have led me to believe that this 'something' exists for me as well. I then knew…that upgrading our relationship to the level of couple from friends with benefits would be the correct course of action due to these findings."

Penny blinked at the long explanation and then she laughed again, saying, "Sheldon, the only reason that made any sense to me was the fact that I've finally learned how to speak Sheldonese. And even if that was the strangest way that anyone's told me they liked me, I'll take it."

Her grin grew as she quickly leaned in to give him a peck on the lips. Sheldon's lips twitched in a smile as Penny then reached out and took his hand. His conclusion was not rejected by Penny and he felt a huge weight being lifted off of him. He never spoke to her about the conclusion he had drawn from their experiment, since love was one kind of science that he had little to no experience in. It was far more possible for him to interpret his results wrong, and then draw lines between premises that simply did not exist. But, he saw, he wasn't wrong. He couldn't be, not with the way Penny was now smiling and softly squeezing his hand.

Though this light feeling was short lived. Leonard. They had to speak to Leonard. That was the other part of the conclusion of the experiment he was worried about. Now on getting a positive result, Leonard had to be informed, since it would be impossible for him to keep a secret of this magnitude for long.

Suddenly the lights went lower in the room, and were then directed to the stage that was set up in the back of the room. He stiffly squeezed Penny's hand once, as they did not show affection much in public before, and he nodded to her. It was time for him to give his speech.

She just gave him a supporting smile in return and nodded back to him, returning his hand squeeze enthusiastically. She found Raj and Howard sitting at their assigned table just a little ways from where they were standing, so she moved to join them as Sheldon approached the stage. He was welcomed to the podium by the Dean of the college, and he looked out at all the people in the audience.

When his eyes centered in on Penny, who was still grinning at him, he focused on her, the rest of the audience dissolving away. He wanted to show her the things he took pride in, as he'd already had the opportunity to see her doing what she loved. Penny…this was for her, just as much as it was for himself.

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

The last night had to be one of the most horrible Leonard had ever experienced during his time working at Cal Tech. True, he usually didn't enjoy going to work functions, but he hated the fact that he had to leave when Penny was looking so beautiful. It was true that she looked beautiful most of the time, but last night she looked particularly so.

So, working with Leslie in cleaning up the damage that their malfunctioning Argon laser had caused, he thought on the situation between himself and Penny once again. It was true that their date wasn't completely horrible in comparison to other dates that he'd unfortunately found himself on, but…he could tell that Penny was holding back.

Sheldon did also mention to him some time ago that Penny felt as though something was missing between them. And this was Sheldon. He knew the guy wouldn't just make something up for his own personal gain since he'd continuously maintained that it was below him to do stoop to such levels. There was also the fact that the man was a horrible liar.

But then his mind shifted to Sheldon and Penny. He could tell that over the past few months, the two of them seemed to have gotten closer in a strange way. She seemed to be over far more than she was in the past, and she took part in video games with them even if she didn't seem to enjoy every one he and the guys liked playing together.

There was this, and the fact that Leonard was fairly certain that Penny had somehow gained some sort of power that protected her from receiving strikes for the same reasons that the rest of them still did, and this baffled him the most. It was true that Penny was a pretty girl, but that sort of thing had little to no sway over Sheldon. This was still Sheldon, after all. But she had also bested him in the little war they had over his striking policies, so perhaps that was what got her this ticket that none of them were able to procure.

Though, Leonard suspected that this wasn't a complete explanation of things. Over all of this time, he was starting to suspect something more was going on here, as Penny and Sheldon had started acting a little strangely around him when he happened to catch just the two of them hanging out unexpectedly.

There would be such little doubt about what was happening if any other guy but Sheldon was involved in this. The whole thing had to be something innocent, it just had to be. Leonard was having a hard time completely believing this though, especially with how Penny had already told Sheldon how she felt something was missing between the two of them.

But, this begged the question…if something was missing between Penny and himself, was that something found between Penny and Sheldon? The thought caused a slight sick feeling to his stomach at the nagging thought. Sheldon was his best friend and horrible at keeping secrets. It couldn't be possible that he had been keeping a secret like this for so long from him, could he have?

The idea wasn't one he wanted to think on for too long, but it still bugged him. Over the few months that he and Penny had gotten closer, an infinitesimal kind of change seemed to have happened in Sheldon. Mostly unnoticeable to other people, he was sure, but after years of living with the guy, he definitely could notice even the smallest kinds of changes in him.

The idea that Sheldon would start getting just the slightest bit more lax in his strike rules toward Penny, and the fact that she somehow had managed to continuously get into his personal space without completely freaking him out stuck out in his mind like a sore thumb. Any other female, or any other person for that matter, getting into his space was immediately lectured for their oversight, or at least made him jump at least six feet in the air.

It was too strange to be a coincidence. He knew Sheldon better than that. It had to be something…and the more he thought on it, the more Leonard didn't want to believe his conclusion. It couldn't be possible, it just couldn't be.

Before he could think too much more, Leslie Winkle approached him and said, "I think we've contained the most harmful substances that were released when the woefully uninformed grad student turned the laser to an intensity that they all were surely told not to."

Leonard let out a sigh and took in the destruction in his lab one more time. He was usually pretty forgiving when it came to the inexperience of grad students, but this was one time he was willing to take a more Sheldon way of approaching the situation, as his lab had most likely lost the last few months of research in one freak accident. Oh, they would be punished in some shape or form, Leonard would see to it.

Perhaps Leslie would help him in coming up with something creative. She was surprisingly resourceful in things like this, especially with the way that she played paintball. He finally replied with a bit of grimness in his tone, "Thanks for calling me, Leslie. At least I was saved a nasty surprise coming in on Monday morning."

"It was no problem, Leonard. Besides…I've already gotten an outline of various ways that the offending grad student can be made to pay penance, and I'd like to go over them with you in detail." Leslie said, moving to her desk in the room to hand him a typed list that appeared to be three pages long.

He took it and looked down the list in shock, saying, "You did all of this in few hours that this happened and you called me here?"

She shrugged and said, "There are some things that demand immediate attention, and I felt that due to the sensitivity of our experiments being destroyed, 'punishing clueless grad student' was moved to top priority."

Leonard nodded, and then laughed on reading the list in a little more detail, "I seem to really be liking 4b, section A on your list here. I think this one could really be explored further."

He looked back at her and found her smirking, "That one held a certain personal interest for me as well. So, shall we?"

She led him over to her desk, and they got started immediately. His thoughts on Penny and Sheldon could wait for the time being. He and Leslie had a grad student to make suffer first.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

A few days after the function at Cal Tech, it was vintage video game Friday, but Sheldon was, unfortunately, not with them. On receiving such a prestigious honor from the school, he felt far more driven to complete his work, and Penny believed that if he was in the mood to work, then more power to him.

Though, it wasn't to say that she didn't miss her boyfriend's presence. Wow. Boyfriend. It was so weird every time Penny tried to think of the idea that Sheldon was now her boyfriend. He was one of the last people Penny would have ever expected to fall in love with and then end up dating. He was just so smart and so strange.

He was so different than the usual kind of guy she dated, and she had to say…it was a welcome change. It was nice to feel valued for once, instead of some kind of conquest. She wasn't sure how he managed it, but she was fairly certain that his main motivation for him spending time with her was actually had nothing with getting into her pants.

Sure, when he touched her that way, he easily could make her toes curl, but she genuinely enjoyed spending time with him. Even when he went into his scientific rants and babbling. It was strange the way that she felt they both changed to accommodate each other in their lives. True, Sheldon still had his weirdness with his schedules, and placement of objects around a room and, of course, his spot, but…it seemed less of an annoyance and irritation to her and more a cute kind of oddity.

She supposed she just needed time to get used to him, as Leonard had, and if Leonard could live with him, she was sure she could date him. Oh, it certainly wouldn't be easy, she was sure of that, but she was ready and even excited to see where it would go.

Her thoughts were broken when Leonard suddenly spoke to her with a smile, "So we're going to start with Dig Dug and Dig Dug II."

"Oh, uhh, sure." Penny replied, her face coloring slightly in embarrassment at being caught off guard.

"I guess you can use Sheldon's laptop, since he already has it installed on his. Don't worry, we won't tell him." Leonard said with a laugh, and Penny responded with her own as she sat in front of his computer at the usual desk he worked at.

She may not be allowed to sit in his couch spot, but it was nice in a strange kind of way to sit in one of Sheldon's spots. As the four of them tried to set up the network they would be playing on…more like Leonard, Howard, and Raj doing that while she messed around on Sheldon's laptop, her eyes strayed to a file on the desktop called, "Penny – The Inescapable Attachment Hypothesis."

Now, this caught her attention. She figured that with the other guys distracted, she could take a quick look. No one could blame her. It had her name on it and it was on Sheldon's computer. She quickly opened the file and took a look. She found that Sheldon really had treated what was going on between them as an experiment, and though she didn't have time to read through the impressive amount of pages he'd typed up over these few months, the whole thing made her laugh. Sheldon truly was one of a kind.

This didn't upset her like any past boyfriends that might have noted down personal details about their relationship, since she was sure that Sheldon had no intension of posting all of this on a blog. And really, even if he did, from the way he wrote it, she was sure that few people would actually understand it. That thought made her laugh again, and she realized that this whole thing with Sheldon had really made her feel happier than she'd remembered being in a long time.

Finally, the other guys noticed her laughing to herself, and while Raj and Howard raised eyebrows at her, Leonard smiled and said, "What's so funny?"

Penny hurried to close the file she was looking at, and getting a little red in the face, she replied, slightly flustered, "Oh, nothing!"

"I'd say she'd found Sheldon's porn stash, but it is Sheldon we're talking about." Howard added dryly, but then his expression turned a little thoughtful, "Unless there's some sort of math porn that we don't know about."

Howard and Raj then looked at each other and exchanged a nod in agreement, while Leonard shook his head in embarrassment and said, "Oh, shut up, Howard."

Penny almost hoped that Howard's comment was enough to distract away from the topic, but then all the guys looked back at her expectantly, and she gulped. She then smiled sheepishly, and said, "Oh, uhh…Sheldon just seemed to be taking some funny notes on an experiment or something."

Raj seemed to frown in interest, and then he leaned in to whisper into Howard's ear, who then turned to Penny and said in part sarcasm, part seriousness, "He wants to know what the experiment was about. And we do too. What is it? Something about him actually suspecting that he's an alien not of this world? Or maybe even a robot? If it is, I have some compelling arguments for either case."

Penny raised a warning eyebrow, and tried to convey to Howard without words that this wasn't a conversation she really wanted to continue, especially with Leonard in the room. Neither she nor Sheldon had talked to Leonard yet about everything, and this wasn't exactly the way she wanted it to come out.

She thought, just maybe, her look was enough to stop any more talk on the issue, but it just wasn't to be since Leonard's curiosity was now piqued.

"Well, since it was you that opened the file, I suppose we couldn't be blamed for reading it." Leonard said with a little laugh and clicked on the file, which she now realized that she'd only minimized instead of closed in her hurry.

Penny inwardly cursed as Leonard raised an eyebrow at the title of the file. She exchanged some nervous looks with Raj and Howard as he kept reading.

**_Introduction: _**_I, Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper, will be undergoing an experiment that is likely to change the very fabric of my existence in this reality, and this reality only, as there are likely infinite realities in which I do not undergo this experiment at all. My neighbor, Penny, on acting without foresight as she tends to do on a regular basis, has stumbled upon a notion of interest that this experiment is now based upon._

_What did she do to set this experiment into motion? She kissed me. I was most shocked that she did not appear to make this action for the sole reason of making me uncomfortable, as I've found my family members to have done often in my childhood, and she actually found the action to be pleasant. I cannot say that the action was negative on my part either, so this is why I have allowed Penny this foray into science and exploration of the scientific method, as before, she seemed to have little interest in this area._

_While it is true that the science she wishes to dabble into, this science of romance and love, is so inexact and unpredictable that it makes an accurate experiment difficult to construct and conduct, I am never one to back down from a challenge. I will construct the best possible experiment in these conditions of measuring an inexact variable in a laughably small sample size. It is true that in this state, the results of the experiment will not be publishable, but it is my hope that on getting a positive result with Penny and me, I can extend my observations to other individuals._

_**Premise: **On further investigation of her reasoning behind this experiment, she informed me that though she believed she had interest in Leonard as a romantic partner, "something" was missing in their subsequent interactions during their date. After sharing three kisses with me, Penny then postulated that there was a distinct possibility that this "something" missing with Leonard lay with me instead. I admit that I did not put much stalk in this theory, as I maintain one more time that the variable she insisted on describing to me is inexact and unspecific, but I could not completely deny Penny's claims, as she was more an expert in emotions and physical intimacy than I could ever claim to be._

_I would not want such a title, as in the past, such emotions have at best baffled me, and at worst, disgusted me. But, I feel driven to help Penny in this experiment due to the fact that the physical contact we have shared has not been strictly negative in nature. This was a shocking development that demanded further research, which is another reason to take part in this study. I have never desired much contact with other humans in the past, excluding Meemaw of course, so the fact that contact with Penny did not make me want to cringe and then sanitize myself appropriately immediately is of great interest._

_We hypothesize that on shifting our relationship status from "friends" to "friends with benefits," as the non-platonic activities required to find this "something" would require this change in status, the "something" will reveal itself to both of us. We also agreed that recategorizing ourselves as a couple would be erroneous, as such would preemptively assume that this "something" already does exist between us. If result of the experiment is positive, and this "something" is found, it is then that another relationship recategorization will be in order._

_I admit that I have never attempted to stage an experiment with such an unclear goal in mind, but as Penny is the head of this experiment, she wished to "see where things go." As much as she needs another lesson on scientific speech, it will do, as from this day, the experiment will begin. Below I will be taking careful note of my observations and physiological reactions to stimuli provided by Penny, and hope they point to the result she is looking for._

**_Actions Taken_**

**_Observations – Physiological/Emotional Responses_**

_Contact 0_

_On agreeing on the terms of the experiment, I was in the process of vacating her apartment when she kissed me one additional time, in what I assume was farewell._

_Contact 1_

_The next time Penny came to my apartment, she went out of her way to touch my hands, knees, and shoulders. I deemed these contacts to be the first ones to truly be as a result of our change in status, since I felt as though the kiss we shared directly after our agreement, as one might say, "sealed the deal."_

_In the first few, and unexpected, times that she kissed me, I could only react with a noise of discomfort and shock, and my body stiffened and presumably rejected the contact. Now I find, with repeated exposure, that urge is reducing._

_Her touch is less likely to me cringe or react in a protective manner for myself, as I have been known to do in the past. Each light touch also has the curious effect of sending a surge of sensation down my spine, and causes a strange warmth in my body I cannot identify the origin of at the present time. This will warrant further research at a later time. _

Leonard finally tore his eyes away from Sheldon's computer screen, and the hurt look he gave her made a sinking guilt develop in her stomach. She hated thinking it, but his face reminded her extremely of a kicked puppy.

He was silent for a long moment as Penny fidgeted and Howard and Raj exchanged uncomfortable looks, and he finally said, "You and Sheldon?"

It took a lot of effort for Penny to raise her eyes to meet Leonard's again, as the tone of his voice made the sinking feeling get stronger. She took a deep breath and said as gently as she could manage, "Sweetie, I'm sorry…things just kinda…happened between us."

Penny almost cringed at her own words, knowing that they didn't do anything to help the situation, or ease the growing tension in the room. The kicked puppy look on Leonard's face soon morphed into more of an angry pout as he finally replied, "Well, why didn't you two tell any of us about it? This seems like really big thing to leave out!"

There was more uncomfortable silence in the room when Raj finally cleared his throat awkwardly. Leonard's eyes then moved over to Howard and Raj, who now were both pointedly trying not to make eye contact with him, and he then threw up his hands.

"Seriously? Was I the only one who didn't know?" Leonard then fixed his gaze on Penny again, and she just about flinched.

She didn't often see Leonard unsettled, angry, or hurt, so it was even worse knowing that she was partly the cause of it. She knew the whole time things were happening with Sheldon, she probably should have mentioned something to Leonard about it, but she was scared of things…well, she was basically scared of things turning out like this.

But now that it was out, there was nothing much she could do about it and it really wouldn't help if she tried denying it. She took another deep breath, and replied, "We didn't want you to find out like this. We wanted to tell you, but, well…"

She trailed off, not sure how to explain herself in a way that wouldn't hurt Leonard's feelings. She knew that it probably was a little late for that anyway.

Leonard's pout got just a little bit sadder and he finished for her, "…but you didn't want me to find out that you found something with Sheldon when you couldn't find anything with me, isn't it?"

Leonard actually hit it right on the head, but Penny didn't readily want to agree with him, as that felt like it would be rubbing his face into things just a little more than was necessary at this point. Penny fidgeted in Sheldon's desk chair as Leonard stayed silent again for a long moment, since she didn't reply to his last statement. This situation was awful, but she couldn't do anything at this point except let it play out.

Leonard then made a noise in irritation and turned to Howard and Raj to say, "And why didn't you two tell me anything, huh?"

Howard raised an eyebrow at Leonard and said, "The only reason we found out was because Sheldon is horrible at keeping secrets. He did try not to tell us anything."

That response just seemed to make Leonard more angry, but before he could respond, his phone rang. Without looking at the caller id, he answered in an impatient tone, and spoke sarcastically, "Hello? Well, that's just great, Sheldon, but I can't. I'm busy. I don't know, take the bus."

Before Sheldon could say anything else, Leonard hung up the phone abruptly and gave everyone else in the room a glare, daring anyone to call out his actions toward Sheldon. As the phone began to ring again, Leonard just turned it off and then spoke harshly to everyone, "I don't think I can talk to any of you right now."

With one last glare, he stormed off to his bedroom and slammed the door behind him. No one who was left in the living room said anything for a long moment, all of them feeling vaguely bad for Leonard. Penny knew that she easily felt the worse out of all of them, since it was her fault that Leonard was out of sorts. She couldn't blame him anyway. No one would like to find out that their best friend started dating someone they had a crush on for a long time.

Penny never had the courage to just sit Leonard down and say that she had a good time with him as a friend, but anything more than that just didn't seem to be there. She never wanted to do that since Leonard was such a sweet guy, and the last thing she wanted to do was to hurt his feelings or kill his confidence. As she let out a guilty sigh, Howard finally said, "Uhh, yeah…so I think we should get going."

As they walked out, she said to them, "I'm sorry that I got Leonard mad at you guys too."

At that, Raj whispered into Howard's ear, and then he said out loud to Penny, "Neither of us blame you. How can we blame the goddess from Cheesecake Factory of anything but being devastatingly beautiful?"

Penny let out an irritated noise and then pointed to Raj and said, "He said that?"

Raj made a scandalized look and shook his head, and Howard smirked and said, "Well, I mostly paraphrased."

Penny was definitely not in the mood to deal with anything like this, and her eyebrow raised even higher and her expression got threatening enough to make Howard and Raj recoil slightly, and then he said, "Okay, well, it was nice chatting. I guess we'll see you later."

Raj gave her a somber nod and followed after Howard, then leaving Penny alone outside in the hall. She stood alone for a moment when her phone then began to ring. She glanced at her caller ID and predictably, it was Sheldon. She let out another sigh as she picked up the phone, knowing that they now had to face what they'd been trying to avoid the whole time they were figuring out what was between them.

"Hey, Sheldon. Yeah, of course I'll pick you up, honey." Her voice was far less chipper than usual, and it seemed as though Sheldon realized it, "Yeah, about Leonard. That was because he knows. About us, I mean. Yeah…you could say that. Anyway, I'll be right there to get you."

Penny hung up and then ran into her apartment to grab her purse and keys, and then she hurried to pick Sheldon up.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

The ride back from Cal Tech was mostly silent after Penny explained to him just why his best friend and roommate was so rude with him on the phone. Leonard knew that he couldn't ride the bus anymore, so he should have at least given him a viable alternative of transportation home. Though, he knew inside that this was the reason he tried keeping the information of Penny and himself from Leonard. He should have known that the truth could never be hidden, not forever.

If Batman could not keep the truth of his identity from his love Rachel Dawes, how did he think he could keep the truth of his relationship with Penny from Leonard? It really was an inevitability that he was too foolish to realize. But now, he had to deal with an unpleasant roommate, and perhaps a cat. He would try to stop things before Leonard finds a cat to bring home with him, but how could he blame him?

It was he who was deceitful with Leonard, so he supposed that he had to pay the price for it. Perhaps if he offered Leonard his Marvel Universe Encyclopedia it would help to smooth things over. The two of them parked Penny's car in the parking lot at their apartment complex, and then they made their way upstairs. They didn't say much of anything to each other, both of them feeling guilty over this situation.

Perhaps Penny felt more guilty than he did though. He did not like that Leonard was not pleased for them, though he did not understand why Leonard kept clinging to the idea that one day he and Penny could be together, even after he'd related to Leonard how Penny felt that she did not feel that 'something' that is necessary for such a relationship to proceed.

Not only this, but the fact that he now was certain that this 'something' had been discovered between Penny and himself. If Leonard found this out, his anger was illogical. It was no fault of his own that Penny decided that he was a more desirable mate.

Sheldon blinked when his eyes centered on his door. Scrawled in Leonard's chicken scratch on a note taped to the door was, "No Sheldons allowed."

His eyebrows scrunched in confusion and curiosity as he removed the taped note from the door. How many Sheldons did Leonard know anyway, and just how many of them was he displeased with? He was the only one that he was aware of, so the plural seemed unnecessary. He then quickly checked his pockets and realized that he'd left his keys at home, thinking that it would be Leonard coming to pick him up from work, as they had come to work together that day.

Sheldon then began to knock on the door in his special way, "Leonard. Leonard. Leonard."

He waited for a moment, and when he got no answer, he tried again. Apparently the childishly made note foretold the truth. It appeared that at this time no Sheldons would be gaining entry to the residence. Sheldon then turned to Penny, and she gave him a comforting and sympathetic look and said, "Oh, honey, come with me."

She led him to her apartment, and then Sheldon said in mild resistance, "But my pajamas are in my apartment. My bed is in my apartment. My room is in my apartment. I only sleep in my bed. I can't sleep somewhere else, Penny."

When they were inside her place, she closed the door behind them and said with a tired sigh, "It's not forever, Sheldon, it's just for tonight, unless you'd want to sleep in the hall on the floor."

Sheldon then looked at Penny, and saw that the situation had strained her as well, since her face looked guilty and perhaps slightly irritated at his need to be in his own bed. He looked down at his feet and softly replied, "I don't want to sleep in the hall on the floor."

Penny let out a sad sigh, and then she quickly pulled him in for a hug, "Sorry, sweetie…I know you're not trying to be difficult. This situation just sucks for both of us."

Sheldon accepted her in his arms, and he hesitantly rested his head on top of hers, awkwardly wrapping his arms over her back. Though his hold on her was awkward, he welcomed her closeness and warmth, not liking the fact that he was in a situation he didn't know how to deal with.

As he held her, the more unsettled he felt. As illogical as Leonard's anger at Penny and himself was, Leonard was still his best friend. He wanted Leonard to be happy for them…happy for Penny since she seemed happier with him than she ever was with Kurt, or any of those other men that came and left her apartment, never to return.

But he wasn't. Not only that, Leonard had banished him from his own apartment. That was unfair…it wasn't as though Leonard had his own strike system, so how was Sheldon to know what he could or couldn't do? Perhaps breaking the obvious "Do not date Penny" rule led to immediate banishment. He had to now find the way to rescind this banishment, as he had to get to his white board.

There was an important equation he was working on presently that definitely needed looking at. He finally broke the hug with his own sad sigh. This was serious. Even thinking of physics wasn't alleviating these negative feelings. Penny just looked back at him sadly and said, "Honey, maybe we should just try to get some rest."

"Though time without all of my necessary things for sleeping could hardly be restful, I suppose that the attempt has to be made." Sheldon said, sounding downright lost as he followed after Penny into her bedroom.

Sheldon watched her pull aside the bed covers to get in the bed, and all Sheldon could see was just how messy her room was, and how the first thing he did the next morning would be to fix this room once and for all!

"Sheldon, come on." Penny brought Sheldon out of his thoughts and he saw she was beckoning him to join her.

He internally scoffed, knowing that the bed was too small for the both of them to lay comfortably side by side, and would end up encroaching each other's personal space during sleep, as they would not be in full control of their limbs and their movements, but he carefully got in the bed next to her. He curled awkwardly on his side with his back to her, not accustomed to sleeping this way, but he supposed that special circumstances called for special measures.

Being banished from one's own apartment surely qualified for such a change in routine. Though he tried to let go of his thoughts to ensure a good rest for the night, he found it was quite impossible, especially with the way that Penny snaked an arm around his middle and squeezed her body tight against his. He was thankful that his guilt over the situation with Leonard was adequately combated by the warmth Penny pushed through him with her embrace, but sleep seemed to be a wish that would go unfulfilled this night, with the amount of physical and mental stimulation he was receiving making that impossible.

Sheldon tried to breathe in regular patterns to at least soothe Penny into sleep, who had elected to bury her face into his back, and he felt that he was succeeding, as a soft snore began to come from her throat. He figured that he'd ask her to see a throat doctor about it at some point, since surely it was something that could easily be dealt with under the proper advice from the doctor.

As his eyes finally began to drift shut, he clumsily curled his hand around hers. His last thought as he dropped off was that he certainly couldn't be faulted for being drawn to her. Though they seemed like opposites, she was the proton to his electron, and together…they made a perfect hydrogen atom.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Early the next morning, Sheldon felt himself easing into consciousness. He felt warm, but he slowly realized that the covers weren't pulled as tightly around himself as they usually were. His eyes flew open when it came back to him that he wasn't in his own bed this morning. He was in Penny's.

He stiffened instinctively to be in someone else's bed, but he felt himself beginning to calm when he listened carefully to Penny's breathing, felt her weight against him, and saw her bright hair contrasting with his clothes. He awkwardly patted her back as she continued to sleep, and it caused her to let out a small sigh and snuggle closer to him.

He sucked in a surprised breath at this, and decided that he would add this to his notes as well. Even in an unconscious state, she appeared to prefer closeness. He lay with her for a few moments, but he decided to rise and make both of them breakfast, as that was his regular routine to do so at 7:00 am. Glancing over at Penny's bedside clock, he saw that it was 6:54 am. He was still relatively on time.

Sheldon figured that his internal clock was thrown off by his unusual sleeping arrangements. It was not unforgivably different than his usual timings, so he figured he could work with this. He slid carefully away from Penny, and though she made a small, discontent noise that almost made him want to return when he extricated himself from the bed completely, he strengthened his resolve to get up.

He did try to make it up to her by wrapping her up in the warm cocoon he usually wrapped himself in to sleep, and it seemed to relax her slightly. He felt a strange kind of relief internally at this, and then he moved to her kitchen to put on a pot of coffee, just for Penny of course, and then begin to make them something to eat for breakfast.

Soon after breakfast, he knew that he had to return back to his own apartment to see if Leonard had forgiven him yet. In situations involving the heart, Leonard did have the habit of being completely illogical, and sometimes down right childish. How could it be any fault of his own if Penny found him to be a better potential mate than Leonard?

But, the fact still remained that whether logic dictated that Leonard should not be angry at him for a choice that was entirely Penny's, he did feel a slight feeling of guilt under it all. He was not very accustomed to feeling guilt, as he wasn't one to take actions without a great deal of deliberation.

If there was something he learned from all the comic books he'd read, it was what guilt could do to a man, and the way it ate at him from the inside, especially if one of said man's good friends felt as though he had done something to wrong them. Logic very seldom had anything to do with such guilt, and he never thought himself privy to such irrationality before in his life.

He should have known. Getting involved with someone as anti-logical as Penny would bring these hindrances into his life. The most surprising revelation of this situation though, was the fact that even if he felt guilty for keeping this information of his changed connection with Penny secret from Leonard, and ended up hurting him in the process, he didn't regret the chain of incidence at all.

As illogical as Penny was, she was just Penny, and she caused something to happen in him that he never thought would be possible, being a homo novus and all. He gave up the thought of being one for some time during the development of his relationship with Penny, as no homo novus would have been subject to the physiological irregularities he suffered around her, and certainly no homo novus would wish for those instances on more often occasions.

He wasn't sure how she was able to get in his mind and change him in the intrinsic ways that she'd managed, but there was no denying that she had. He wanted her in his life, distractions and all. The pain at finally and unquestioningly realizing that he was not the next evolution of man didn't come. Having Penny with him somehow managed to be far more important than that.

Dear god, what had she done to him? She'd turned his very world and everything in it on its head. But, he didn't want to go back. He couldn't, especially not with the way his best friend had reacted as a result of the news. As the coffee began to be filtered and heated into its pot, he prepared to make both of them scrambled eggs and toast that morning, since it was the morning for eggs.

He counted himself fortunate that Penny's usually scarcely stocked fridge and cupboards had just what he needed to make his simple dish, and so he got out the bowl, whisk, plates and forks he would need, and he began to make them. When he was waiting for the eggs to get done evenly on both sides, he'd made efficient use of his time by putting toast in the toaster to get ready as well. Sure, this wasn't Cylon toast like he was used to, but her toaster at least heated the bread evenly.

Perhaps in the future, he'd be able to convince her to get her own Cylon toaster. Just as he plated the eggs for the both of them, there was a quick knock on the door. He carefully took the toast out of the toaster to make sure they did not get overly browned and then he hurried to answer.

He didn't immediately open the door though, as the person on the other side had not identified themselves. It wouldn't do to be the reason why an intruder gained entry to the residence, least of all with Penny peacefully unawares in her bedroom.

"Who is it?" he asked suspiciously, his hand tentatively gripping the doorknob.

The voice was entirely familiar and irritated as it answered, "It's Leonard."

Sheldon briefly considered asking for other indications that it was, in fact, Leonard, but he realized that his friend was already in an unreasonable mood and it would do him no service to have to deal with him in an even more agitated state. He opened the door and immediately Leonard spoke in a high and angry tone, "How could you?"

Sheldon's tore his eyes away from Leonard, who was looking rather displeased with him, to check on Penny, seeing that she registered Leonard's voice from her bedroom, as she rolled over in her sleep.

"We should attempt to use tones in the lower register, as we did the first time we were in Penny's apartment when she was asleep." Sheldon said to Leonard in the same low tone he'd used on the day he'd come into her apartment to clean when she had newly moved into the apartment building, this memory causing him to get slightly distracted from the matter at hand to glance around the living room and add, "I suppose right now the apartment could use some cleaning. It's amazing how Penny can so easily forget the simple diagrams I left her on how to return her things to their places."

Leonard made a sound in disbelief that called his attention back and he replied, his tone no lower, "I don't care about her apartment right now! Sheldon, you knew that I liked her, so how could you?"

Sheldon then just raised an eyebrow and said, "How could I what exactly? I have done an infinite amount of things during my twenty nine years of existence that you could be referring to."

Leonard made a noise of absolute frustration, and Sheldon instinctively curled into himself a little more protectively. It reminded him of the way his older brother Dean used to sound whenever he would tell him the truth about something that he didn't want to hear. He was thankful that even when Leonard was cross with him, that he would not encroach his person in the same way, so he felt relatively certain that he would not be ending up with a wedgie at the end of this encounter with him, though he was quite certain this would not end well.

His eyes then moved down to the bag that he noticed Leonard carrying. It was his emergency bag that he kept packed in the chance that he would so suddenly have to evacuate the building, most likely due to some natural disaster compromising the rather shoddy structural integrity of the apartment complex, that he would not have time to pack first and then safely exit. Just why was Leonard carrying that, and more importantly, just why was he in his room?

Leonard's voice was then strained and angry, "I don't care how much you insist that you are above human emotions and closeness! You don't go after someone you know your friend likes!"

Sheldon's face hardened just slightly at Leonard's accusation, but he still felt a small bit of underlying guilt, "I did no such thing, Leonard. I did not pursue Penny. It was she who made the first move, she who told me that 'something' was missing between you when I inquired about what transpired with you both, and it was she who wished to 'see where it went' with me. I could not deny her the opportunity to conduct this experiment with me, as it was her who set forth an actual testable hypothesis."

"Testable hypothesis or not, it still isn't acceptable, Sheldon! Even setting aside the fact that you don't do this to your friends, why didn't you mention anything to me about it for all these weeks?" Leonard stubbornly argued, definitely making no effort at keeping his voice down in the slightest.

"I didn't 'put it aside.' That is exactly why I didn't tell you. Penny and I both knew that by announcing our experiment to you, you would react negatively and so provide a hindrance in the experimental process." Sheldon tried replying evenly, but his guilt bubbled a little higher.

He knew even at that time that it was probably wrong to keep the experiment secret from Leonard, and so now he realized he had little defense for his actions.

Leonard then laughed in sarcasm, Sheldon knew due to Penny's help with recognizing it, and he then shoved his bag into his arms and he said, "I should have known that talking to you about this would be useless. I don't want to see you for a few days, you're still banished."

Sheldon was about to make some sort of response as he clumsily held the bag, but at that point he felt a warm hand on his arm. He turned and saw that Penny was standing beside him, looking every bit as guilty as himself, but when they met eyes, she gave him a comforting nod. Then she turned to Leonard and said, "Leonard, we're sorry for not telling you. We just…didn't want to hurt your feelings."

Leonard then turned his eyes onto Penny, his look hurt and perhaps…betrayed? Sheldon still needed more practice in interpreting the emotions he saw on other people's faces, though he felt he'd made a good deal of progress up to this point, mostly thanks to Penny. Before her, he'd never really felt the need to put much effort into it. Now he was starting to see that it was essential.

"A little late for that." He replied snippily, then turning on his heel and slamming Penny's door on the way out.

The mood in the room was rather uncomfortable as they stood together by the door of the apartment, until Sheldon finally shuffled in place and said softly, "Breakfast is ready. I have made us scrambled eggs and toast, as it is the day for eggs. The toast is not Cylon toast, as it is my preference, but I believe it is acceptable."

Penny then gave him a sad kind of smile and said, "Oh, honey, thank you."

Sheldon couldn't say he liked that expression on her face, but all he did was nod and then lead the way into the kitchen. He wasn't quite sure what one does when they end up suffering from emotional upheaval, so he just tried to ignore it and focus his mind on other stuff, such as making sure they had just the right placement of their eggs and toast on their plates.

He and Penny sat at her kitchen island to eat their breakfast, but it was mostly in silence. Sheldon had a number of things that he would have talked to her about otherwise, but the situation with Leonard was strangely overshadowing any other topic of possible conversation that they may have had.

After the silence finally became too much for Penny, she finally spoke in a comforting tone Sheldon suspected was as much for him as for herself, "Leonard's just mad at us right now…I think we'll be able to talk to him soon."

"He will have to stop being irrational at some point. Let's hope that this point is sooner rather than later." Sheldon replied as he finished up his meal and then took his and Penny's dishes to the sink to wash.

She was silent for a long moment and then finally said with a slight look of worry on her face, "…yeah. Yeah, let's hope."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Over the next few days, Sheldon began to get used to staying at Penny's while he was banished from his own apartment, but he sorely missed all of his things. Specifically his toothbrush. Penny may have given him a new toothbrush at his insistence, but how could he be sure that it was staying clean over the course of the day without his UV light? He cringed as he thought about what could possibly be floating about the air of Penny's bathroom, and then falling on his brush at that very moment.

He shook his head and tried to return to his work. There were just a few minutes before his scheduled lunchtime, so he figured that he would be able to solve one more equation before he took a break to eat. He realized if he skipped any meals to work, the missed nutritional uptake had a negative effect on his productivity. Unless he was close to a paradigm-shifting conclusion, he made it a point to stop working long enough to eat.

He finally set down his whiteboard pen and then left his office to walk in the direction of the cafeteria, but he stopped midway, realizing that Leonard would be there, and it would probably be best if he didn't eat with him at this point in time. More than likely, Leonard would want him banned from their regular lunch table as well as their apartment, and it would be better to avoid this situation rather than face it.

Sheldon turned around and headed in the other direction. There was another food area on campus, but it was a bit of a walk from his office, which was why he preferred the cafeteria to any other place to obtain his food. This way, he would make the most efficient use of his lunch hour and he would be able to watch the people serving his food closely to make sure none of his food was touched.

His face twitched a little when he realized that he would be going somewhere different to eat than usual, and this would bring with it the possibility that he would be unable to watch the way his servers treated his food. He had no choice in this matter, as he wasn't sure when Leonard would cool down enough to hear him explain himself. Until then, he had to make other arrangements for lunch, to add to the other drastic changes he was forced to make in his life while he waited for Leonard to come around.

He entertained himself on the walk over to the other eatery by reciting digits of pi in his head, reaching the 135th digit as he walked into the place. He observed the place carefully, happy to note that this place didn't seem any less clean than where he usually ate, but he would be no less vigilant than any other time he was forced to eat someplace new. The worst things always happened to people the moment they let their guards down, and he would not allow himself to be counted amongst those unfortunates.

He decided to make his order as simple as he could manage, just a grilled cheese sandwich, and then he took a seat by himself in the corner of the eating area, wishing for peace while he ate. Though, he wasn't sure how much peace he'd really have, as being alone made it more likely for him to dwell on his problems with Leonard caused by his new relationship with Penny. How could he make the logical progression of events that led to his relationship clear without upsetting Leonard further? This was a quandary that didn't have an obvious answer or way of getting solved, and it was always these questions troubled him the most.

His meal progressed in an expected way for most of it, but just as he was taking the last bite of his sandwich, a woman with auburn colored hair, and what appeared to be rather eager features approached him. He raised his eyebrow at her, and she blushed and asked in a rush, "You're Dr. Sheldon Cooper, right?"

Sheldon nodded slightly impatiently and said, "I am."

"My name is Martha. I heard about the contribution you made to the interdisciplinary project between the Physics and Biology departments, and I have to say that I was impressed with your insight in finding possible links between string theory and cells." she said, giving him a nod in awe.

Ahh, naturally. He should have known that this woman would be approaching him to acknowledge his obvious greatness. He nodded back and said, "It was an obvious conclusion to make, as string theory has a part in all the workings of the universe."

The other woman took his reply as an invitation to sit across from him at the small table he was at, and this made him raise another eyebrow. He certainly did not intend his reply to her words to be taken as such, though he was not cruel enough to ask someone he did not know to vacate a seat in a public place, even if her presence made him slightly uncomfortable.

Other than Penny, he still found himself just slightly off put with interacting with females of the species. Not that he would let this show, as it would certainly be interpreted as weakness on his part. One cannot reach greatness if he or she is a known victim of such folly. She smiled at him and continued speaking, "I had wanted to attend the function, but I was unfortunately tied up with other work. I hear that you gave quite a speech."

Sheldon thought back to the speech, strangely not really remembering what he said as much as the glow about Penny's face as she smiled at him when she listened to what he had to say. He stared off into space as he remembered before blinking and realizing that Martha was giving him a curious look as he said nothing for a long moment, and he finally said, "It is to be expected when one has as intimate a knowledge on the topics at hand as I do."

Martha just kept smiling and she said, "I try to follow your work when I can. You usually present compelling evidence to back up your arguments."

Sheldon gave Martha an almost patronizing smile, replying, "As Physics is one of my highest interests in life, it should be no surprise that I approach it with great diligence."

This made her chuckle and she gestured to the shirt he was wearing as she said, "But you seem to have great interest in the Flash as well. The new issues have taken an interesting spin on the plot line that was presented in the Golden Age."

Sheldon's eyes widened as he heard these words from her, such interest in comic books being found in a female of her physical archetype rare, and he replied, "I feel the same way! At first I had little faith that the new comics would have the same continuity presented in both the Golden and Silver Ages, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. I am eagerly awaiting the next issue being released this week."

Her grin got larger and she said, "So am I!"

The blush in her cheeks seemed to intensify as she said, "So…would you like to go to Comic Odyssey this Wednesday to pick it up?"

"It would certainly be on my agenda." Sheldon said, nodding at her, but tilted his head at her curiously when her eyebrows scrunched in what seemed to be confusion.

Some people were quite strange. Of course he would be picking up the issue as soon as it was released, as he was quite a fan of the series, as he just indicated to her. Her face reddened even more as she finally sputtered, "W-What I meant was that…I was hoping we could meet at Comic Odyssey to get the issue together."

He blinked and then he said, "I see. I suppose that would be doable."

Sheldon especially wouldn't mind having some company on his comic book buying trip, as his best friend and he were at odds at this time, and he was sure that Penny wouldn't want to accompany him to this. On further thought, he remembered there was a nice ice cream place that was right next to the comic book store. He, unfortunately, was unable to visit there often due to Leonard's lactose intolerance.

"If you find it agreeable, I would also like to visit the ice cream shop that is right next door as they have the most delectable banana splits. I don't get to go there that often due to my roommate's unfortunate lactose intolerance." Sheldon said with another nod.

Her face was no less red, but she grinned at him again and said, "Oh, that sounds great."

Sheldon then got up from his seat and said, "My time for lunch is over, so I must return to my office."

"Oh, okay. I'll see you on Wednesday then!" She said, still smiling as she stood up from her seat as well, giving him a little wave as she made her way off.

He looked at her with slight confusion on his face before shaking his head and then making his way back to his office. Females certainly did operate on their own kind of logic.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Each day passed slowly, and though Sheldon did continually try speaking to Leonard, it seemed as though his friend just didn't want to hear it. He supposed that he had to wait until he was ready to listen to reason. Until that time, he would have to stay at Penny's. His girlfriend's. He found the reclassification to be quite odd, as she was now not only his friend, but his girlfriend as well. He would definitely have to remember this if he was to introduce her to other people he knew. It appeared that this reclassification held great significance to Penny, if her excitedly reporting the results of their experiment to her sister and her mother over the phone told him anything.

On Wednesday, when he finished with his work day, he gathered his things together, and waited for Penny to pick him up. He missed the car rides with Leonard, as Penny didn't really seem as though she enjoyed the same car games that he and Leonard did. This was another reason he wanted to fix things between Leonard and himself, since as much as he liked Penny, she lacked interest in the games he played to strengthen his mind in a time that would otherwise be idly wasted.

When Penny finally came, he bit his lip as his eyes centered in on her check engine light. He knew that the discussion would lead to nothing but the possibility of getting punched in the throat, given the frequency he had brought it up in the past, but it was still a top priority in his mind to get resolved, since he wasn't one to lay down when there was a problem to be solved.

He then just took a breath and said instead, "Penny, I'll need you to take me to the comic book store this evening at 5 o'clock."

She laughed and said, "Something new and interesting coming out this time?"

"The next issue of Flash is coming out. I'm most eager to learn how Wally West will deal with the problem that he found himself in at the end of the last issue." Sheldon replied with a small smile, genuinely looking forward to getting the issue.

"Well, I hope you have fun with that, honey." she said with another chuckle, then adding, "So you'd like me to come get you at 6 as usual?"

"This time I'd like you to come at 6:30 to give me time to eat ice cream." Sheldon said, removing his seat belt as Penny pulled her car into her spot at their apartment complex.

When she got out of the car and they began to walk up to their apartment, she raised an eyebrow and said, "Why do you have to eat the ice cream there? Why can't you just bring it back with you?"

"That would certainly be rude to Martha, who is meeting me at the comic book store to also get the newest issue of Flash." Sheldon replied a matter of factly.

Both of Penny's eyebrows shot up at this and her tone turned suspicious, "Who's Martha?"

"I met her last week in the food court on the east side of campus, as I was attempting to avoid a confrontation with Leonard in the usual food court I eat at on the west side." Sheldon said with a nod, not understanding why she wanted so many details about this.

It was common for the both of them to talk to many people over the course of their days and then never mention them to each other, so he wondered why this one was of consequence to Penny, whose eyebrow was now twitching in a way that he learned implied jealousy.

"Let me get this straight." Her voice was tight and strained as she spoke now, "You are meeting this Martha to look at comic books together and then you're getting ice cream with her?"

"It was she who suggested we pick up the issue together, but it was I who suggested the ice cream. You know Leonard can't go there, so it was very seldom that we got to visit. I believed it would be best to 'kill two birds with one stone,' as one might say." Sheldon said, eyeing her slightly warily as she fixed a glare on him, still not sure what was setting her off.

Penny then opened her apartment door for Sheldon and then ushered him inside and then replied to what he said, giving him a look of absolute disbelief, "You agreed to go on a date with her, Sheldon!"

It was Sheldon's turn for his eyebrows to shoot up as he spoke in a scandalized tone, "I did no such thing! It's hardly a 'date' just based solely on the fact that two individuals with similar interests are doing an activity together that they both enjoy."

She put her hand on her hips, and he realized that he was in big trouble. That was the stance his mother always took when he was about to get a talking to, and so he braced himself for the obvious fallout that was to follow, getting ready to cover his ears in case there was yelling.

"What about the ice cream part then?" Penny said in an angry tone, tapping her foot in impatience.

"I intended to visit alone, but as Martha would be with me at the comic book store, I just invited her to join me." Sheldon explained softly, drawing into himself just a slight bit, sure she would start yelling at any second, from the look on her face.

"Inviting her to join you to eat anything is considered a date." Her voice got more quiet and dangerous as his reply was obviously not the right thing to say.

"I've invited Leonard, Raj, and Howard to eat with me before, and you've never told me that was a date." Sheldon asked slowly, thinking if he said too much, he might set Penny off.

Her glare on him intensified just slightly and she added as she counted each thing she mentioned off on her fingers, "When there is a male, a female, and ice cream all involved, it is a date, trust me."

Sheldon eyed her suspiciously himself, waiting for the blow out, but when it didn't come, he relaxed slightly. If there was one thing he hated most in the world, it was yelling. Penny appeared to be taking breaths to calm herself, and Sheldon took this opportunity to say, "I did not know this before. I will take note of this fact for the future."

She raised an eyebrow at that and said, "You'd better. And I'll be coming along with you for this so called 'date.' No woman is going to move in on my man!"

She stepped forward to poke lightly at his chest and added, "Even if he is a doofus about social situations sometimes."

This caused Sheldon to pout and say, "I am not a doofus. Not knowing is too often equated with not understanding and I do not appreciate you implying the later about me."

Penny shook her head and just let out another sigh, saying, "Sweetie, you can tell yourself whatever will help you sleep at night."

Sheldon just huffed at her and crossed his arms for a moment, before deciding there was no way he would win an argument when Penny had already made up her mind. He then decided to approach a problem he was doing earlier at work on his white board. He was glad that he had extras at work, so he was able to bring one back with him to work on while at Penny's.

This was working for the time being, but he really wanted to work on the board that was specifically for problems he worked on at home. He really just wanted to make up with Leonard and go home.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Penny simply couldn't believe just how innocent and naive Sheldon could be when it came to dealings with the opposite sex. He just didn't realize just how prime a catch he was in whatever little world he spent most of his time in. Even they had stumbled into their feelings for each other, so could she really blame him? As much as she wanted to, she realized that she couldn't.

He was trying so hard to learn and understand what it took to be in a relationship at the same time as being at odds with his best friend over dating her, so she really had to hand it to him. But giving him credit for his efforts at understanding still did not quell her anger and jealousy over him accidentally accepting a date invitation from another girl.

How was she supposed to explain to him the difference between a romantic invitation and simply a friendly one? He had no talent at picking up subtleties and irony was definitely lost on him. As the two of them got in her car to go to the comic book store, she decided that since she couldn't explain, she just had to protect what was hers, so to speak. But she did take one precaution in telling Sheldon to check with her before he agreed to hang out with any other girls in the future.

Penny knew that she had to stay close to Sheldon the whole time they were at the store, since there was the probability that this other girl would be stubborn about pursuing him. She wasn't usually this jealous or possessive, but it seemed that Sheldon brought it out of her with his complete obliviousness to the workings of normal society.

When they arrived at the store, she parked and she took a breath to calm herself. She knew that Sheldon didn't like physical contact much when they were in public, so usually she managed to restrain herself, but today she'd be piling it on to let this Martha know that Sheldon was definitely taken.

As soon as the two of them exited her car, she made sure to get really close to him and wrapped her arm around his. His eyebrows shot up in surprise, as she had never been so overt about their romantic relationship before, but thankfully, he said nothing. If he asked her too many questions in front of Martha about her behavior, then their relationship would certainly be called into question by Martha. Penny hoped that for once in his life, Sheldon would just keep his mouth shut.

As soon as they walked into the store, they got a few surprised looks from the other nerds that were usually there, and Penny pulled even closer to Sheldon just because she could. It was then that Martha approached them, speaking excitedly before she noticed Penny, "Oh, Dr. Cooper, I wasn't sure when you'd arrive, so I took the liberty of saving a copy for you-Oh, ahh, who's this?"

Penny looked at Sheldon and raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to introduce her. He looked confused for half a second before he realized that she was waiting for him to say something. He blinked and said awkwardly, "Ahh, this would be my _girlfriend_, Penny."

She almost cringed at the way he said that. If he was a normal person, it would sound as though he was just making it up, but being Sheldon, she knew that he was still just trying to get used to the changes in their relationship. Not that the rest of the world would understand that, hence her presence on this "date."

"Yeah." She said, making sure to grin as attractively as she could manage, "We've lived across the hall for a while and then stuff just sorta happened."

Sheldon nodded sagely and said, "Penny moved into the apartment across from mine 2.34 years ago, wherein my roommate fell in love with her. After a year of pining after her, they went out on a date that was largely unsuccessful, and then she later informed me that she hoped she would find the 'something' that was missing with him with me instead. As is most obvious at this point, she was successful in that."

Penny could only look at him in disbelief when the look on Martha's face reflected surprise, and then she turned back to her and said, "…yeah, something like that."

After a moment of awkward silence, Penny made sure to keep her elbow hooked with his as he looked through the comic Martha gave him and chatted with her about the comic, though Penny could see that she kept glancing at their linked arms every now and then, obviously not sure what to think about what was going on.

Martha was obviously having difficulty coming to terms with the possibility that Sheldon actually was this blunt and clueless. Penny supposed that the poor girl had no way of knowing that about him when she tried to ask him out, but she knew that she couldn't leave a doubt in that girl's mind, since Sheldon wouldn't be doing anything that would really deter her from possibly pursuing him on his own.

Though Penny didn't find the topic of comic books as over her head as she did with most of the things that Sheldon seemed to talk about, she kept drifting in and out of the conversation since she didn't know or remember all the back stories of the characters they were discussing.

Penny was determined not to let this get her down, making sure to smile every time Sheldon thought he was being funny, whether or not he actually was, and she made sure to stay close to him at all times. She also made sure not to neglect looking at him in a loving way as she slowly stroked his arm.

Though, to any normal couple, these weren't strange things to happen between them in a public place, this was Sheldon, and he really operated by his own set of rules. She knew she definitely was laying it on thick, because when she decided to do something, she went the distance, and if her acting taught her anything, it was that to make something believable, you had to throw yourself into it wholeheartedly. And now that the world, and specifically this Martha, had to know that Sheldon was her boyfriend, so she would do everything in her power to make sure there was no doubt left in anyone's mind.

She could tell the whole thing was confounding Sheldon though, as he didn't know half the time how to react to her actions, leaving him looking stiff and uncomfortable. No matter. He got himself into this mess, so he had to bear the consequences of his actions. Finally, on purchasing the comic books he had come for, Sheldon suggested they make their way over to the ice cream place.

Martha decided to go order her ice cream first after they walked in, and Penny made sure to still keep her arm hooked with his again as they waited for their turn. Sheldon finally bent down so their heads were level and he whispered harshly, "Penny, why are you insisting on remaining glued to my side like a particularly adhesive lacquer? You know this makes me uneasy in public."

She gave him a rather smug and mischievous smile and replied in soft and sweet sarcasm, "Well, think about that next time before you accidentally accept a date from another girl."

Sheldon just pouted at that and said, "You know I did not have the appropriate data to draw the correct conclusion in this situation, and I am not likely to be making the same error in the future. Have I not been punished enough for my error in this outing?"

Penny had to laugh a little and replied, "Not by a long shot."

Sheldon was about to add to his defense, but Martha approached them a bit reluctantly with a subdued expression on her face, saying, "Since you two still have to order, I'll just save us a table."

Penny and Sheldon nodded and moved to the line, and she allowed Sheldon to just make an order for himself, since she didn't much want ice cream, and didn't really have money to spare on this gourmet stuff. He, of course, got his favorite ice cream dish, the banana split, which happened to be a dish she was fond of herself. She knew how he was about anyone getting near his food, but she believed that she earned it this time. If he was going to have a fit about it, so be it.

On arriving to the table, Martha and Sheldon kept chattering on about different comic book heroes while Penny stayed mostly silent. She did make it a point though to scoot her stool closer to Sheldon's and rub her hand slowly up and down his arm. He stiffened with the action and bristled slightly, but did nothing to stop her, perhaps because he now knew the reasoning behind her actions.

Penny decided to take it up another notch since she was having entirely too much fun with this. When Sheldon finished taking a bite of his ice cream, she quickly snatched his spoon from his hand to take a small scoop of his ice cream and said, "Wow, this is good!"

Sheldon could just gape at what she was sure he took to be her audacity at daring to try sharing food with him, and Penny just managed to keep her laugh in. Giving him a bit of a mischievous smile, she then raised an eyebrow and said, "Would you like some more, honey?"

She scooped a bit of the banana split into the spoon and then held it up to his mouth. His eyes went as wide as she'd ever seen them and they darted from the spoon back to her eyes as she was sure his logic systems were in overload over just how unsanitary this whole thing was in his opinion. His eyes narrowed slightly as he finally came to a decision, leaning forward in great hesitation and taking the bite in his mouth.

He was silent the whole time he chewed the bite, and Penny smiled at him, also a bit shocked herself that he actually took a bite from a spoon that had previously been in her mouth. Perhaps he really was making progress after all. Penny was so wrapped up in this moment with Sheldon, that she'd forgotten that Martha was even there for a second, but her attention was called back to her when Martha cleared her throat to indicate her continued presence.

"It's been…fun, but I really should get going. I do have a paper that I need to finish working on." she said as she stood up from her stool, definitely looking a bit put out.

Penny really couldn't blame her for that, but she had to do what she had to do to protect her claim, so to speak, over her academically genius, socially stupid boyfriend.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It was a delight to find someone with as similar passions in comics as myself, as my roommate and I seem to find ourselves in often disagreements over the best comic book series to keep up with." Sheldon said, also standing up from his.

Penny still stayed attached to Sheldon as she added, "It was nice to meet you, Martha."

She just nodded in reply and looked at Sheldon to say, "It was nice spending some time with you, Dr. Cooper. I suppose I'll be seeing you around school, then."

Sheldon nodded in reply and said, "If our schedules match, I'm sure it is a viable possibility."

Martha gave Penny a bit of an artificial smile as she walked off. Penny knew that smile since she'd auditioned for enough toothpaste commercials to become well acclimated to it. When she and Sheldon were finally alone, he yanked back his arm from hers and pouted as he said, "I hope you've had quite enough fun at my expense, Penny."

She just laughed and said, "I guess that usually is the case in situations like this, isn't it?"

Sheldon's pout got just a little more pronounced at that as he dryly countered, "Well, I'm pleased that someone can find pleasure in this situation."

She giggled one more time, deciding that even if Sheldon ended himself up in this sort of trouble due to his innocence, it all was fun in a strange kind of way, since it certainly made her life a little more interesting. Especially since she knew that Sheldon didn't mean for things to happen this way, so she didn't hold it against him that much, not really.

She reached over to the last bite of banana split still left with the spoon and ate it quickly, giving Sheldon a grin as she said, "Ready to go home?"

Sheldon just shook his head at her in the way he often did when he didn't understand her, and this made Penny's grin grow. She took his hand as they walked back to her car and gave it an apologetic squeeze, this time making sure to maintain a more comfortable distance from him to let him know that she would be keeping his want for space in mind this time.

But on heading back to the car, heavier issues then weighed on her mind. Sheldon and Leonard seemed no closer to making up, as Leonard had taken to avoiding him as much as possible, and still was not allowing Sheldon to go back to his own apartment. In spite of Leonard being extremely immature about this, she still felt guilty, as this whole fight was her fault.

She had known that Leonard liked her, so the right thing to do would have been to talk to him as soon as she figured out she had some sort of thing for his best friend and roommate. But it did no good to think on what she could have done to avoid this situation now that it had already happened. She knew that all she could do now was encourage Sheldon to go talk to Leonard, but how would that solve anything?

Leonard didn't even want to look at Sheldon, let alone talk to him. And, in a way, she supposed she couldn't blame him since if one of her good friends did the same thing to her, she probably wouldn't be pleased in the slightest. Unfortunately, there was nothing the two of them could do but wait this out, she supposed. When Leonard cooled down a little bit, then they could really apologize and talk about this.

Penny squeezed Sheldon's hand one more time when they arrived at her car before letting it go so that they could get in. Sure, their relationship may have gotten the both of them in a bit of trouble at present, but she wouldn't take it back for the world. She'd never tried being in a relationship with anyone like Sheldon, so she was curious about where things might go between them. It would be most likely be nothing she'd ever experienced before, and this possibility made her excited for the future.

Sure, Sheldon definitely was a handful, but he always meant well. He always went out of his way to help her. Just like with her Penny Blossoms. He was the one always giving her advice whether she wanted it or not, and always selflessly putting helping her over his own needs or fears, like when he drove her to the hospital when she dislocated her shoulder. None of her ex-boyfriends would have done that for her, and none of them would have gotten her the whimsical adhesive ducks that now decorated the bottom of her tub either.

Sheldon always expressed his care and concern in special ways, but never had she felt so…loved. Her face reddened just a little as she thought on this. Not only was she in love with this strange man, but…did she love him? She thought she loved Kurt, but no. This felt completely different. No, even if she was with Kurt for a few years, that felt superficial…artificial. The relationship was mostly 'carnal,' as Sheldon would put it.

She and Sheldon were moving at a snail's pace in comparison to her past relationships physically, but surprisingly, she didn't mind. She'd thought sex was one of the most important parts of a relationship before, but Sheldon was letting her see that it really was just a small part of a big picture. There was more to relationships than the hotness of both people in them. That she, just maybe, had other things to bring to a relationship than just her looks. Maybe she was beautiful, but Sheldon saw more in her than that, and she had to say, she liked that feeling.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Leonard had made up rather quickly with Raj and Howard in this situation since they weren't the people dating the girl he had a crush on for over two years. That was his so called best friend. Sure they kept the information from him, but he knew that was because they didn't want to hurt his feelings. So, this left Sheldon still banished from their apartment and their usual lunch table.

Although the general tension went down, due to no one telling the three of them what they were allowed to do or say, but...something just didn't feel right. Leonard refused to think about why that was, since the important issue was Sheldon stealing Penny away right under his nose.

Maybe Penny had told Sheldon that something was missing between the two of them, but in a way, Leonard didn't want to believe it until he heard it from her himself. But this was just part of the basic rules of friendship. You didn't date someone you knew your friend liked, period. Sheldon was special, that was for sure, but there were some rules that you just weren't allowed to break, and this was one of them.

On finishing lunch that day, he made his way back to his lab, finding that Leslie was testing their newly repaired laser in the lab.

"Hey, Leslie." He said as he entered and he put his bag down on his desk in the lab.

"Hello, Leonard. With our laser fixed and the grad student sufficiently punished, I believe we'll be able to finish the first phase of our experiment by the end of the week." she replied, not looking up at him, too busy with the laser to do so.

He approached her to look over what she was doing and said, "That's great! I was afraid that we'd be set back a whole month after Daily's mistake."

"Not with me on the job." Leslie looked up to meet Leonard's eye and smirked at him for a moment before going back to what she was doing.

Leonard knew he should be doing things to help her work, but the conflict with Sheldon was really distracting him. The guy was his best friend, and as weird and sometimes annoying as Sheldon was, he sort of missed his company. Letting out a small sigh, he got out his computer and decided to start some computational analysis of their experiment, so at least the computer could do work and hopefully it would give him some results that would push thoughts of Sheldon out of his head for the time being.

He worked silently for a little while when Leslie said, "I'm especially looking forward to the result of this experiment since it would let Dr. Dumbass see that string theory is bullshit."

Leonard bristled a little for two reasons. One, he actually sided with string theory himself for an explanation of the composition of the universe, and two, the mention of Sheldon that brought back thoughts of him that he was desperately trying to avoid.

When he didn't really give her any sort of response to her comment, she looked up at him and said, "So you and Dumbass are still fighting, are you? Did he make you return the Chinese food again because they shredded it instead of diced it, even when that place expressly said that it doesn't dice any of their meat, period?"

Leonard let out another sigh and said, "No, it isn't about food. It's about Penny. Sheldon's been dating her these few months and no one told me!"

Leslie then laughed and said, "Dr. Dumbass has been dating Malibu Barbie? Now, that's interesting. I was actually behind Wolowitz's theory of mitosis, myself, since it was too horrifying a thought to imagine Dumbass subjecting a poor individual to himself. It's bad enough that we have to talk to him, but in such a capacity?"

Leslie then shuddered while Leonard bristled again, those words putting an unwanted image of Sheldon and Penny together in his mind that would have been better unmentioned.

"Whether he subjects himself to anyone or not is one thing, but he should have told me about this, especially since it was Penny!" Leonard said, not really talking about this with Raj and Howard, since the subject made him feel really awkward with them, but this left him with no one to speak about it with.

He supposed that's why it was all flowing out now. Maybe Leslie wasn't the right person to talk to about this, given her bias against Sheldon, but it sure beat just thinking in circles, since all he could think about was how his friend betrayed him. Perhaps she'd provide him with a new point of view that he couldn't see by himself.

"I understand you have some sort of sexual attraction to Barbie. Is that why this upset you to this degree?" Leslie said, regarding him with her head tilted slightly sidewise at him, as though he was a puzzling equation she was working through.

Leonard found such a blunt sum up of his feelings toward Penny to be slightly embarrassing, so his face reddened slightly as he weakly added, "I did see her first, and I was the one who actually wanted to be friends with her in the beginning. Sheldon knew that, and he still went ahead with all of this!"

Leslie thought a moment, and then she said with a straight face, "That might be, but obviously Dumbass didn't know any better. And, really, if Barbie wants him, she should have him. I believe it would be more in your interest to direct your attentions to women that would return it rather than waste them on something that would definitely amount to nothing."

Leoanrd raised an eyebrow at her and said, "Look, Du—I mean, Sheldon, could have at least tried talking to me about this. Maybe things with Penny and me weren't going anywhere, but he's still in the wrong here!"

"Leonard, Dumbass is always in the wrong. How can you fault him for something he has no control over?" she said, her voice turning a bit condescending, a smirk coming to her face presumably because he'd nearly called Sheldon 'dumbass,' like Leslie had a habit of.

Leonard turned the words over in his mind. He knew Leslie meant them as an insult, but he looked at them from another way. Sheldon really made an effort not to make connections to other people. Really, if you wanted to make friends with him, you had to force your way into his life, as he seemed to only have readily available space for things that were related to physics and comic books. He, Raj, and Howard had to fight their way in, and so did Penny, he supposed.

He used to like to think that she did it for the same reason that Raj and Howard did, that she wanted to be friends with him, and so, by default, she made friends with Sheldon, but now he was starting to realize that she just might have done it for her own reasons. Maybe she actually liked him. Hard to think of how Sheldon as he was could win anyone's favor, but he'd obviously done it with Penny.

And he was angry with Sheldon right now, but he couldn't much say that he didn't enjoy spending time with him either. They wouldn't be best friends if that weren't the case. He let out another sigh, realizing that Leslie, in her own way, was right. Sheldon probably had no control over this. Who really had control over their feelings anyway?

As much as Sheldon boasted about not needing human connection and emotions, he was just as human as any of them, no matter how much he tried to prove otherwise with his behavior. Even if Penny wasn't the best person to fall for, given the circumstances with him, Sheldon probably was just as surprised about all of it as anyone else was, given his past proclamations about relationships.

Sheldon had already been banished for a little over two weeks. Maybe it was time to sit down with he and Penny and have a talk about this. Maybe everything didn't happen in the best of circumstances, but if he thought back to the past few months, Sheldon just might have been slightly less difficult over that time.

Leonard realized he was silent for a long moment as he thought all of this over, and he finally spoke with hesitance, "Yeah, you're right. Even if Sheldon doesn't understand the rules of friendship all that well, I don't think he really meant for things to happen this way."

Leslie just raised an eyebrow at that and replied, "Dumbass doesn't understand a lot of things."

She was silent for a moment as she looked at Leonard very carefully, and he felt just a little uncomfortable whenever she did that. He never did too well when someone studied him very closely, the way his mother used to do that when he was young making him feel as though his every fault was written right on his face.

When she spoke finally, she said, "Let them have each other. Your sexual and emotional attentions would definitely be better directed elsewhere."

Leonard looked at her curiously as she raised a suggestive eyebrow at him, and he finally got her meaning, blushing as he said, "O-Oh…is that right?"

"Perhaps…I'll see you after work?" she said with a slight smirk.

Leonard couldn't help but smile back and nod. Now that he thought about it, maybe he wasn't as mad at Sheldon as he thought it was. It really had been long enough. He just had to find the courage now to talk to him about what had happened with Penny and then ask his best friend back home.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Sheldon was a bit of a creature of habit, as Penny had once said, so it had taken a lot of will power to cope with the change of living in Penny's apartment, of dealing with the apparent disorder that she let rule her living space, of dealing with having another person sleeping beside him in the same bed.

He had thought that living with someone who so willingly invaded his personal space would drive him insane, but he was surprised to see that living with Penny wasn't nearly as irksome as he thought it would be. He figured that the years of knowing her and these months of dating her must have led to his tolerance toward her.

But really, if he were to admit it, he did not only tolerate her. He looked forward to spending time with her and actually enjoyed her closeness. She had managed to grow on him like few other people had done in his life. He decided that this very evening was one of the times that proved Penny to be a valuable companion, as she was willing to cook him spaghetti in the same way his mother had made for him, complete with the same sauce and cut up hotdogs.

He, naturally, oversaw the creation of the dish in the kitchen as the garlic bread he had made to accompany the spaghetti baked in the oven.

"No, Penny, you have to cut the hotdog pieces into ¼ inch slices, otherwise it just doesn't taste right." he said as he watched her cut them up in a way he found to be much too uneven for his taste.

She raised an eyebrow at him and said, "Honey, I mean this in the best way possible. If you don't get yourself out of this kitchen, hotdogs won't be the only thing cut up and put in the sauce."

Sheldon stiffened as his help was venomously rejected and he reluctantly replied as he moved to the living room, "A-Alright."

He made a note to suggest to her to get a psychological exam for psychosis, as she frequently displayed symptoms of it. He then decided to ready the small table they ate at together usually with plates and silverware, and when the timer dinged to indicate his bread was ready, he edged back toward the kitchen to take care of it, not sure if Penny still did not want him there.

Penny glanced at him hesitantly shuffling near the edge of the kitchen, and she laughed, saying, "Sheldon, sweetie, come here."

He slowly got closer to her, still looking really awkward, not knowing if she would snap at him again, but she turned off the gas and then turned to pull him in for a warm hug, softly adding, "I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's just sometimes you give way more help than is wanted or needed."

He wasn't sure how to react to this, as he knew that he never offered help or advice unless he deemed it necessary. It was just that the people receiving this help did not always want to accept it. He wisely kept this chain of thought to himself as he was hugged by Penny, rubbing the small of her back in a way he'd learned she'd liked.

Perhaps that would calm her and keep her from reaffirming her threat about his presence in the kitchen while she was cooking. When Penny pulled away a little bit, Sheldon quickly moved over to her oven to turn it off and then take the bread out. When the bread was safely placed on the counter to cool, he looked back at her and found her smiling and shaking her head.

He knew that she did not understand his need to meticulously arrange the objects in his surroundings, so this must have been the source of her amusement. He didn't have much time to pinpoint if this was the case in this moment as she pulled him toward the living room. Before he could ask her what she was doing, she took his face in her hands and met their lips together. Due to his surprise at the sudden kiss, all Sheldon did was bend toward her so that his head was at a comfortable height for Penny, but he didn't kiss back.

He had prepared himself to eat dinner at this point in time, not to engage in carnal activities, but it seemed as though Penny had a different plan in mind. He tried to weakly protest when she finally pulled back and allowed him to breathe, "Penny, if we continue this chain of activity, we will not be able to eat in a timely fashion and our food will cool to an inacceptable temperature."

She just giggled and replied with a tone touched with seduction, "That's what the microwave is for. Come here."

His further complaints were silenced as she tugged him directly to the bedroom and he took a gulp as he looked at her bed. He may not have participated in such activities in the past, but his research and own hypotheses based on collected data allowed him to predict where this was going to go.

If there was a question before whether Penny could ask for sexual favors in their 'friends with benefits' relationship, he knew that now Penny was certainly within her rights to ask for such as his girlfriend. But Sheldon was extremely nervous about taking things to this level as not only did he have little to no preparation to ensure an acceptable performance on his part, intercourse just brought things to a whole new level of unsanitary that would ease the passage of pathogens between them significantly.

Though, when Penny simultaneously buried her fingers in his hair and brought him down for a rather passionate kiss, the little knot of anticipation he felt forming in his belly told him that many of his coherent thought functions would be shutting down and therefore make his worries less important than sexual gratification in a matter of moments.

She nearly immediately deepened their kiss and her hands began to move down toward his chest. He was breathing frantically through his nose, as he was not prepared for a kiss of this intensity right off, and his hands trembled, wanting to touch, but not sure how. He finally settled on shakily resting his hands on her hips, pulling her just a little closer to him.

He wasn't sure how she'd come to feel so intoxicating to him, but she'd obviously managed it, since the longer they kissed, the more he was sure he'd rather be doing this rather than eating dinner, which his rational mind would have told him was entirely ridiculous, as it should be an organism's highest priority to take care of its basic needs before anything else.

His rational mind had already checked out though, and he sucked in a surprised breath as Penny pushed him forcefully on the bed, causing him bounce a little and look up at her in shock, muttering, "Penny, there is no reason to treat me roughly as I am completely willing to – "

He stopped speaking when Penny got on the bed beside him and planted a firm hand on the middle of his chest, pushing him down to lay all the way down on the bed, giving him an intense look and saying softly, "Sheldon, it's been too long since I've last gotten laid. Please…I don't want to wait any more."

Sheldon looked up at Penny, and his face colored to see how hungry her gaze was as she slowly looked him up and down. He gulped again and realized that he couldn't breathe as he replied, "I won't make you wait, Penny."

This caused her to give him a tiny smirk as she lay down next to him and began to kiss him on the neck. Sheldon knew then that he definitely had to put aside any of his own nervousness and anxiousness over this, as his girlfriend obviously had a need that only he could fulfill.

Her hands worked quickly to pull his shirts off, while he fumbled with his own hands, trying to figure out what to do with them. He struggled and got his hands tangled in her shirt more than once as he strove to get it off her, letting out a shaky breath as he finally managed it.

He laid his trembling hands on her back as her kisses began to move down his neck toward his chest. All of this closeness mixed with the emotions it inspired in him scared, confused, and excited him all at the same time. Finally, his curiosity grew beyond his fear of doing something wrong, having a feeling that this had something to do with the way Penny began to stroke him through his pants as she continued to kiss his chest.

Letting out a soft sigh, he ran his hands up her back in a slow motion, paying close attention to the way Penny's skin felt under his fingers. It was soft and smooth and extremely pleasant for him to touch. Sheldon suddenly wondered if there was a direct correlation between the pleasure felt during intercourse and the emotional investment in each of the individuals participating in the activity.

Sheldon tried to begin defining the parameters of the function he wanted to graph later, but his mind suddenly shut off as he closed his eyes and gasped. Penny had opened his pants and had begun to stroke him now with nothing in the way. Once again, Sheldon couldn't breathe, his breaths coming out as stutters and soft almost-moans. Penny had such power over him, it disturbed him to the core.

But not enough to stop this. He didn't want them to stop, the possibilities for the new discoveries he could make too seductive to even consider it.

Before another thought could cross his mind, she captured his lips in a much deeper kiss than he was expecting and she encouraged his hands to travel down her sides to come into contact with her shorts.

Now he had little doubt of what she wanted to happen this time, so he carefully unbuttoned her shorts and began to push them down, his face reddening as his eyes centered on Penny's underwear. It boggled Sheldon's mind that Penny would want to wear such a tiny garment that surely provided no significant cover and would surely feel as though she was wearing nothing at all.

His face reddened even further when they met eyes again at the burning look she was giving him. She raised an amused eyebrow at him and spoke in a low tone, "Like what you see, honey?"

She accompanied her words with a sudden stroke, and all he could do was gasp and stutter, "Y-Yes…"

The devious smile on her face grew at this single word from him and she bent down to lick at his neck and murmured, "Good…"

She finally decided to get his pants out of the way and only paused in her kisses and licking to divest him of his pants, leaving him only in his underwear. His hands were now trembling on her back as he struggled with her bra clasp at further encouragement from Penny, groaning as she began to worry one of his nipples with her teeth. It was completely clear to him that Penny was far more skilled in these activities than he was, and that he certainly had a lot to learn. Curious how he'd never thought he'd have any use for skills in such an area, but Penny always found a way to prove him wrong again and again.

That used to vex him, but now he secretly looked forward to the next time that Penny provided him with a challenge, since he found it seldom his own friends provided him with the same opportunities. He privately admitted it to himself that he certainly had not given Penny enough credit when he had first met her, but now he was learning.

When he'd finished wrestling her bra off of her, she smirked at him, and then slowly pulled down his last article of clothing, maintaining eye contact with him the whole time. It blew Sheldon's mind how much more aroused this simple action from her made him, how the fire in her eyes made him feel as though his whole body was burning as well.

His face was red as she looked him up and down slowly, not accustomed to being naked around too many people, but he distracted himself from what was to come by looking at Penny, who was now only clad in her tiny red panties, and he shyly reached forward and rubbed his hands slowly up her sides gently, still getting the hang of all of this. This caused her to give him a small smile and then she pushed down her panties, leaving her just as naked as he was.

He reddened further, never thinking he'd see a female like this outside of a science book, or that occasional e-mail signature from Howard that he continued to give him strikes for, but for some reason that just didn't seem to stick with him. But Penny was unlike those women in those pictures that obviously had numerous body augmentations, she was naturally beautiful. Completely beautiful and irresistible.

She met him with another intense look, and then she bent down to begin licking about the tip of his penis, forcing him to arch his back in surprise and arousal and throw his head back with a moan. He couldn't even wrap his mind around how unhygienic it was for her to be doing that, but it felt too good to say anything. That, and the ability to communicate rationally was completely taken with every lap of her tongue and her taking a good amount of his length into the warmth of her mouth.

It was unlike anything he'd felt before in his life, and he nearly lost himself within a minute of her starting. Knowing that if he orgasmed at this point in time, he would severely displease Penny, as he would be unable to give her what she wanted without a considerable rest period, he managed to unclench one of his hands from the bed sheets, awkwardly reached out to touch her cheek, and begged in a shaking tone, "P-Penny, please…I…If you continue, I will be unable t-to…"

He closed his eyes and whimpered when she withdrew her mouth, and when he finally opened his eyes, he found her smirking at him as she said, "I know. I don't want to wait either."

She crawled back on top of him and locked him in another deep kiss that caused him to shiver and moan softly. There was no hope for him to keep the, quite frankly, embarrassing noises to himself under this sort of stimulation. He had to figure out just what about this act rendered all of his regular inhibitions moot.

His mind was suddenly pulled back to what they were doing once again when Penny began to stroke him lightly between their bodies. He felt a surge of panic as he thought she just might take him inside of her without the use of any sort of contraceptive and so he pulled out of the kiss and gasped, "Penny! W-we should use some sort of protection— "

She cut him off with a chuckle and reached inside her nearby bedside table to pull out a condom as she replied, "Don't worry, honey…I'm way ahead of you."

With a smirk, she tore the package open and began to roll it onto him, and Sheldon just wasn't sure if he felt more anxiety or excitement from that look on her face. She had the ability to inspire the strangest combination of emotions in him, and he knew it would take him a fair amount of time to really figure them out.

Then, with very little warning, she positioned herself on top of him and took him inside of her quickly, causing him to groan and throw his head back as the sensation plowed through him. If he could string a whole thought together beyond 'yes!' and 'more!' he might have tried to keep a more level head to be able to write about this later in his experimental journal.

But this…all of this, was far more intense than anything he'd ever felt in his life and so he could not hope to last that long under such an onslaught. And Penny, she was having no mercy on him, riding him fast and hard, so all he could do was submit to her. In what little ability to think was left with him, he couldn't think of anything else he would do in this situation, letting her take him to heights that he'd never been to before.

Finally, it was all too much for him, and he arched and moaned, his orgasm taking over him and devastating him completely. He felt her orgasm soon after he did, and when he was finished, he just sank straight into her mattress, having trouble gathering his wits about him to do much else. Penny finally gave him a tired chuckle in response to this and finally slid off of him and lay beside him.

As the two of them caught their breaths, Penny snuggled close to him, and as unsanitary he knew the conditions on the bed were now with all of their bodily fluids, in some private area in his mind, he could admit that this was actually pretty nice.

"God, Sheldon, that was really good…" Penny finally whispered to him, kissing him softly on the cheek.

"I'm glad I could satisfy you." Sheldon replied softly, not sure what the proper social convention was for words exchanged after intercourse.

He relaxed slightly when he heard her giggle and she replied, "Satisfy me you did."

After another moment of silent cuddling, Sheldon said, "I would now appreciate a short shower before dinner, Penny."

This made her laugh for some incomprehensible reason, and she said, "Oh, honey, you sure know how to make a cuddly post-sex moment perfect."

Sheldon raised an eyebrow and asked, "Sarcasm?"

She just laughed again and replied, "What do you think?"

Sheldon could only pout in response and he said, "I am never sure with you, since more often than not, many of your responses lack any kind of logical backing."

Penny just shook her head and rolled her eyes, pulling Sheldon up from the bed, allowing him to dispose of his condom, and then she dragged him into the bathroom.

"How about we find something better for your mouth to be doing than making fun of me, hmm?" she said as she shut the door behind them.

"But, Penny, I really would just like to shower and ea— "

He was quickly cut off by her tugging him into her shower and locking his lips again. Good lord, he just wasn't going to be able to have dinner tonight at all, was he? Though, he couldn't say the alternative was all that horrible. Not that he'd ever say that out loud to anyone. Wouldn't want anyone getting the false idea that he was easily swayed by others.

Just Penny. Penny was the only one who could bend him to her will, and as disconcerting as that thought was, it filled him with a strange kind of warmth. Maybe Penny was rubbing off on him more than he'd ever thought she could.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

Another week or so had passed and though Leonard had the enlightening conversation with Leslie, he still hadn't pushed himself to do anything to better the situation between he and Sheldon. Maybe he wasn't so angry at him anymore, as Sheldon didn't start dating Penny just to hurt him. His friend was a lot of things, but spiteful wasn't one of them.

Though, he was feeling a bit stubborn over the situation, as the reasoning behind Sheldon's actions was one thing, but the fact that he did it at all was another. This, in addition to how long Sheldon and Penny kept their relationship a secret from him, made it sting a little more. How could everyone have known and not told him?

He let out a frustrated breath at that thought. He knew that Howard and Raj kept it from him to keep from becoming too heavily involved in the eventual fallout, and Sheldon…he now supposed that he kept it from him for obvious reasons. He couldn't say he was all that happy about things, but he really wasn't all that angry anymore.

And, in some strange way, he did miss Sheldon being around. As weird and stifling he could be at times, the guy had somehow become his best friend, and he knew that he didn't want things to continue like this with Sheldon avoiding him at work and at home.

Well, he never officially told Sheldon he wasn't banished from the apartment anymore, so that would explain him not trying to come back yet. He really had to get on that. No matter how weird or awkward it was going to be. Even if Sheldon broke a rule that best friends shouldn't.

But, why did he have to be the one to approach Sheldon? Shouldn't Sheldon be the one trying to apologize to him, as he was clearly the one who had been wronged? Sure, when Penny and Sheldon tried to apologize to him, he didn't want to listen, but they really couldn't blame him. He'd still been too upset to accept it then.

No normal person would just give up after one apology, right? Though, Sheldon was obviously anything but a normal person. When someone told him to go away, he did, and he didn't come back until he was told he could. Now was one time Leonard wished that Sheldon was just a little bit closer to normal.

He let out a sigh as he waited for Howard and Raj to come over for Chinese food night. Sheldon had been a noticeable absence in their dinners, not only for not being there to continuously kick other people out of his spot, but the whole group dynamic between them felt different. Though his habit of being condescending often got on all of their nerves, he often did bring up interesting points in conversation, and as he always had a lot to say, their dinners without him were noticeably more quiet.

Sheldon obviously wasn't the only person Leonard missed during their dinners and other activities, as Penny had taken to joining them often for these things lately, but obviously with Sheldon banished, she wouldn't be coming here. After getting used to her being a part of their before very homogenous crowd, it was really strange not to have her with them now. Though, Leonard had to admit, he definitely didn't miss Howard continuously hitting on her when she was there.

Sure, he was hurt that things didn't work out between the two of them, but especially now with things seeming to happen with Leslie, he couldn't blame her for moving on. It had taken him a bit of a shock to get on with it himself, but really, it was something that he knew had to happen, in spite of the tiny hope he held on to that one day she would come around. The main clincher of this situation was that he really wished she picked someone other than his best friend and roommate to move on with.

As he was setting the food out on the table for everyone, he heard a knock at the door, realizing that Howard and Raj must be here. It was true that it was much easier to get Chinese food without Sheldon around, but it didn't make him any happier. He invited the two of them inside and he shut the door behind them, taking a seat in Sheldon's spot, as for once it wasn't being horded by his anal and slightly crazy friend.

The three of them tried to continue a normal way of interaction between them, but the slow gloom that was seeping into their interactions was starting to become too much for Leonard, so he finally said, "So, have you guys talked to Sheldon or Penny at all?"

Raj and Howard exchanged a look, and Howard replied, "None of us have really seen much of him since his banishment."

Leonard then felt a little guilty and said, "Ahh, yeah…"

Howard then smirked a little and said, "But really, it's Penny that we've missed. If there was a way we could just permanently trade her for Sheldon, I'd take it."

Leonard just rolled his eyes at that and said, "I doubt that Penny would want to keep hanging out with us if you keep that up."

Howard then gave him a curious look and asked, "Keep what up?"

And Leonard just replied dryly, "Being yourself."

On getting a return glare from Howard, Raj finally spoke up, "Look, dude, I know that it wasn't cool of Sheldon to go out with Penny, but it's not like he did it to show he was better than you."

Letting out a sigh, Leonard said, "I know. I know he's not some sort of Casanova, but since when was his species anything but asexual?"

Howard shook his head at that comment and added, "How sad is it that a seemingly asexual person is able to bag a hot blonde while virile, completely heterosexual males such as ourselves mostly strike out?"

While Raj nodded in agreement, Leonard just thought silently on everything for the moment. He really should try talking to Sheldon about things, now that he'd cooled down from the initial anger and excitement.

"Do you think I should go over and talk to them both?" Leonard finally said, looking to his friends for advice.

Sure, they might not be the most socially normal people he knew, but they really were all he had, so he'd take what he could get.

"As nice as this vacation from Sheldon has been, you probably should." Howard said in part hesitance, and Leonard guessed that perhaps he wouldn't mind if the 'vacation' was extended for just a little bit longer.

"You probably should hear him out. Maybe Penny's been able to do what we never were able to. You know, made him to be more of a human being rather than a condescending robot." Raj also said, agreeing with Howard.

Leonard also nodded, deciding that his friends were right. Leslie also had encouraged him to talk to Sheldon, in her own way, he supposed. This fight between them really had gone on long enough. He was the only one who could stop it, so he figured that the time was now. Or perhaps, the next day instead, as he still had to gather enough courage to approach Sheldon and Penny after the way their last interaction had ended.

He decided to put it out of his mind for the time being and he then said to them, "So, you guys up for Halo then?"


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

It had been nearly three and a half weeks since he'd last been in his apartment, and as much as he enjoyed Penny's presence, he wanted to go home. He missed his proper white board, and his spot on his couch. He missed his room, and his bed, and most certainly his dvd collection of Star Trek, the original series. And, as hard pressed as he was to admit it, he missed Leonard, Raj, and even Howard, as the three of them had become so ingrained into his daily schedules, he didn't realize how their absence would make him feel, now that they had suddenly been removed.

He was never one who had it very easy in making new friends, since he never much saw the need in it. With his friends missing from his life, he now had the opportunity to think on just how easily they all fell into his lap. It was highly improbable for a similar situation to happen twice in his life, so he figured he just had to deal with the possibility that Penny might be his only friend from this point onward.

Friendship with her had come completely unexpectedly, but Sheldon was pleased with things as they were now. She understood far more than he'd expected her to be able to, given their first few meetings, but she really made the effort to learn what he thought every human being ought to know about physics and any other number of scientific subjects. Time spent with her was unexpectedly enjoyable, even with their physical intimacy aside.

But, as he now realized, as enjoyable as time spent with Penny was, it could not replace time spent with Leonard, Raj, or Howard. He knew his intellect was far superior to all of them, but the interaction with them was something he now found he looked forward to. Though he always told everyone he'd really be happier alone, he knew now that was lie. He didn't want to be alone. He wanted his friends back in his life.

With this in mind, one evening when Penny was preparing something for their dinner, he said to her, "I want to talk to Leonard."

Penny looked at Sheldon in surprise and she stopped what she was doing to come over to him and reply, "Honey, are you sure?"

Sheldon just blinked at her. Of course he was sure. Otherwise he would not have made his statement. He didn't bother highlighting this failure in her logic, as he thought one person angry at him was enough. He had grown to find out that Penny did not like it much when he pointed out her logical fallacies, though he still had not quite worked out why that was.

He decided he would make a note of it in his post experimental analysis later. Perhaps he would next look into just what made Penny tick, as there were still many instances where her behavior stumped him or confused him. Sheldon wouldn't accept that these were just things that couldn't be figured out. He was one of the best scientists he knew. If anyone were to crack this egg, it would be him.

On realizing that she was still looking at him expecting an answer, he nodded and said, "I believe enough time has passed for Leonard to realize the necessity of listening to us."

Penny raised an eyebrow and said, "What you mean is that Leonard would have calmed down enough to want to listen to us?"

Sheldon cocked his head at her and replied, "Isn't that what I just said?"

Penny just let out a sigh in response and then she said, "Do you want me to come with you?"

Sheldon thought about this carefully for a moment. Having Penny with him for moral support would not be unwelcome, but he sensed that this was a problem that he had to deal with alone. He finally shook his head and replied, "I believe I should go alone."

She then leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek, which was now such a usual occurrence that he hardly stiffened in shock any more, and she said with a little bit of worry, "Alright. I hope this goes well."

Sheldon nodded one more time and then began to move to the door. Penny saw him out, but then let him approach the door to what he hoped was still his apartment on his own. He almost wished that he'd let Penny come along with him as he started his special knock on the door, and then he waited for Leonard to come answer it. He knew that Leonard should be at home at this time, as it was not during his work hours, but Sheldon wasn't sure Leonard was sticking to any of his schedules during his banishment.

There was a long silence after his knocks were finished, and Sheldon almost believed that his effort in coming here was in vain when the door finally opened. Behind the door, Leonard seemed a little apprehensive, but he carefully said, "Sheldon."

"Hello, Leonard. I was hoping that we could speak on the subject of Penny and the effect my relationship with her has affected our friendship."

Leonard seemed to take a deep breath and then he replied, "Okay, come in."

Sheldon felt a strange weight being lifted off of him as he finally got to enter the familiar surrounding of his apartment, as his time spent away felt much longer than it really was. He quickly moved to his spot on his couch, and he took a seat with a quiet sigh, also sorely missing his spot during his time at Penny's.

Finally he looked back to Leonard, who'd taken a seat in front of him, and he felt a sudden rush of nervousness and anxiousness. He really hated admitting it, but Leonard was one of the few people who he cared about upsetting. And, as he knew too well, he'd upset him greater than he was sure he ever had before, so it would take quite an explanation for Leonard to understand just why he took the actions he did.

Sheldon took a deep breath to calm his nerves and he said, "Leonard, I wish to explain to you the chain of events that led to Penny and I being in a relationship so that you may understand our intentions in doing so."

Leonard let out a frustrated breath at that and replied, "Sheldon, I don't want all the details. I'm just not happy about the fact that you're in a relationship with Penny at all, and the fact that I was the last one to know about it."

He wasn't quite sure how to proceed after this statement from Leonard. As basic as the other man's scientific comprehension and analysis was in comparison to his own, he was right on this point. It was an unspoken rule in the covenant of friendship: one did not pursue someone that was the object of their best friend's interest, whether or not any attempts by said friend were unsuccessful in starting a relationship with the party of interest.

Sheldon finally spoke again, knowing that neither of them could stay silent forever, as preferable as it was to continuing this conversation, "I understand that I have broken a very fundamental rule of friendship that states that my first allegiance is to my existing friends before any that are newly made there after, but I am here to ask for your forgiveness as I never expected my interactions with Penny to reach the level that they have."

Leonard then put his hands on his hips and said impatiently, "Okay, I get that things sometimes happen, but what about telling me soon after you realized something was between you two?"

"Neither Penny nor I wanted things to become unpleasant between us before we were sure that this 'something' carried the necessary longevity to be categorized as more extreme than just 'feelings' or 'lust.' We did not want to go through a situation such as this if the two of us were akin to two sine waves of different wavelengths that happen to intersect at a finite number of calculable points." Sheldon explained with the guilt over the situation strangely rising again.

He wasn't sure why that was, as he should be feeling a sense of relief that the two of them were actually talking again and with him at least partly admitting he was wrong. Surely this was the path to repairing their friendship.

Leonard's face than expressed what Sheldon was sure was frustration, as he'd seen that face on him numerous times before when the other dealt with problems relating to his experimental designs, speaking in some sarcasm, "Well, why didn't you bother telling me when you figured it all out then, huh? I saw your experimental notebook, it seemed you had thorough notes as always."

Sheldon wasn't sure if Leonard's words were a barb or a compliment, as he was just getting the hang of this sarcasm thing, but from the look on the other's face, he decided to take it as a barb.

"As a scientist, I am bound by my training to do as much. If I failed at the task of accurately documenting my experiences, the notes would be quite useless, wouldn't you agree?" Sheldon returned logically, hoping that Leonard's head had cleared enough of jealousy to see reason.

Leonard just gave him an irritated look and replied, "That isn't the point, Sheldon. Its just...not only was I upset that you decided to date Penny, of all people, you were able to succeed where I couldn't. And I definitely felt left out because also you were the first to have an actual girlfriend of all of us. That's something you definitely tell your friends about."

Sheldon took that information in silently, and he felt just a little more guilt over the situation. Perhaps the situation with Leonard may have been avoided if he and Penny were more forthcoming about the arrangement between them, and then their subsequent relationship.

During his silence, Leonard added, "And anyway, just why was I the last person to find out about this? I mean, even Raj and Howard knew before I did, and I live with you!"

Sheldon shook his head in response to that and said slightly disdainfully, "I did not tell them forthwith if that is what you are implying. I was unfairly pressed for information, as they both are aware of my weakness when it comes to lying."

Leonard just cocked his head at him and then shook it, a look of what Sheldon believed to be exasperation written all over it. Finally, Leonard let out another sigh and said, "Okay, Sheldon. I think we can make up and you can come back to the apartment. I'm still not going to feel so happy about this situation for a while, but it'll be okay."

At these words, Sheldon felt a great sense of relief. It appeared as though Leonard was willing to forgive his transgression and would let him back into his life. In response he nodded, "Thank you, Leonard."

After a long moment of silence, Leonard asked, "So, uhh...how did you start liking Penny anyway?"

Sheldon thought carefully about this, as it was a fair question. What exactly was it that drew him to Penny? It was true that she was physically attractive, but he was certain that their relationship was on a far deeper level due to the emotions she had managed to inspire in him, when he had been quite certain before that no one would ever be able to. He wished that he could be looking at his notebook, as he surely made notes and observations on this query there, but all he could do now was list things from the top of his head.

Finally, he just said thoughtfully, "Penny, though not as highly educated as even Howard, provides me with challenges that I did not even know were missing before she entered our lives. She makes me strive to make things I felt were common knowledge understandable even to the general populous and will inform me if my interactions and reactions are acceptable to those outside our social circle. She has shown me that any number of degrees from prestigious institutions does not prepare me begin or maintain a relationship."

As Sheldon got more carried away by his explanation of the facts surrounding his relationship with Penny, it turned less into a list of qualities, and more into an emotionally charged declaration.

He didn't realize that he'd begun to stare off into space as lips twitched just slightly upward as he kept talking, "Penny is able to competently play Halo and Age of Conan in spite of her level of attractiveness implying her to be unable. She makes me the same kind of cookies that Meemaw used to make. She will sing me Soft Kitty if I'm sick. She makes me spaghetti with little hotdog pieces just like my mom used to make. Penny...has never wished me to change...unlike most people I've come into contact with."

Sheldon finally realized that he'd looked away from Leonard when the other broke into his reverie by saying in what clearly was shock, if the expression on his face could be trusted to convey the meaning, "Gosh, Sheldon...I never thought you could ever find so many things about Penny to like. And to think that when she first moved in, you hardly could be bothered to talk to her!"

He remembered that day clearly, given his eidetic memory and all, and now he felt a small sense of regret that he did not try to strengthen his relationship with Penny much sooner. But he supposed that the additional time that he had spent getting to know her had greatly aided the relationships they had developed now.

He finally just nodded and said, "Penny has grown to become very important to me. It would not do to not have her in my life."

Leonard was still regarding him with that shock and he said, "Well, I guess that's good to hear."

They both were then silent for a long moment, Sheldon realizing that Leonard more than likely needed a moment to digest the new information that had just passed between them. It was not as though he could process things at the same speed he could, so he obviously had to make an allowance for that. When he felt as though enough time had been given, he said, "Would it then be acceptable for me to return this evening?"

Leonard let out a sigh and then said, "Yeah. That'd be fine."

Sheldon got up from where he was sitting and then began to move back toward the door, saying, "I will be returning after dinner, as when I left Penny's apartment, she was cooking something for us to eat. I am quite certain that she wouldn't mind if you joined us."

Leonard half smiled at that and said, "No, you two have your dinner. I was just going to do a bit of reading and then get to bed. I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow then."

Sheldon nodded and then walked out of the door. He let out a sigh of relief as things in his life were finally returning to normal, and that he'd finally won his best friend back. He felt a small amount of sadness at having to leave Penny, though he would certainly not miss the general chaos that she seemed to keep in her living space, no matter how many times he tried cleaning up and arranging things.

And, in the privacy of his own mind, he grudgingly admitted that the thing he would miss most about going back to his own bedroom would be not feeling the warmth of her body against his back as he fell asleep, as in the past three plus weeks, he'd grown accustomed to sleeping on his side since sleeping on his back did not allow them adequate sleeping room in Penny's small bed.

There would be no reason to continue that sleeping arrangement when he was alone, as there was always ample room in his bed for his single person, and the fact that sleeping on one's back provided the best support for the spine during times of rest.

He cleared his mind of all of this as he approached Penny's door, and, as always, he did his special knock. When the door was opened for him, he walked in and Penny looked at him expectantly as she asked, "So, what happened?"

Sheldon spoke in some relief, "Leonard has allowed me back to the apartment."

Penny seemed to share in this as she said, "Oh, that's great to hear. I'd hate to have caused a big enough problem between you guys that your friendship couldn't be fixed."

Sheldon just shook his head in response and said, "Nonsense. The only thing you have done was make yourself seem to be a very desirable mate, as I am certain this is what caused Leonard's infatuation with you in the first place."

Penny just laughed in response and said, "I think this is your way of complimenting me to make me feel better. I can get used to that."

Sheldon just raised an eyebrow at her, still finding much of Penny's behavior to be either baffling or unexplainable. It didn't follow any kind of rules or science. He'd begun to hypothesize that Penny was just Penny.

She reached out to lightly squeeze his hands and then said, "So, ready to eat?"

Sheldon nodded and then moved over to the small table they ate most of their meals together on. He decided that this was one more thing he just might miss, though he was quite impatient to get to sit in his spot on the couch again. He just hoped no one else had made a habit of sitting there, as he wasn't sure how he was going to deal with that.

No need thinking on it, as preemptively reacting to something that may or may not be happening would do him no good. He would just conduct a thorough examination of the area on his return. At least he was finally allowed to come home.


	27. Chapter 27

**Well, here we've finally come to the last chapter! I really want to thank everyone that has stuck to this fic from the very beginning and has left me such wonderful comments that always made my day! Thank you so much for being such wonderful and fun readers! XDD ****  
**

**Chapter 27**

"Alright, this isn't going to be easy, and will definitely require everyone to stick to their posts. Wolowitz and Koothrapali will guard the hill by our flag, Leonard and I will hold off anyone trying to get in our fort, and Blondie and Dumbass will have to go on the offensive."

Sheldon just glared at Leslie as she laid out their battle plan and spoke in a huff, "Excuse me!"

She just gave him her usual antagonistic smirk and said, "Fine. Blondie McSharpshooter and _Dr._ Dumbass."

Penny just rolled her eyes at Leslie and Sheldon sputtered as he tried to come up with a response, but as he wasn't much good at stooping to her level.

"Okay, let's move." she said with a nod and then everyone moved to their posts.

There was a bit of a scowl on Sheldon's face, and Penny obviously saw it even through their masks and she said, "Hey don't let her bother you. She's the dumbass for not realizing how awesome we are!"

He let out a small sigh and said, "I suppose you're right. It's not as though I have much of a choice in dealing with her as Leonard and Dr. Winkle have entered into a similar arrangement as ourselves."

"Wow...I didn't know the two of them were dating." Penny said, making a face of mild surprise as she took the information in.

She then smiled slightly and said, "Well, good for Leonard. I'm glad he's gotten out there and found someone on his own."

"It can be thought of as beneficial that after my return home, he did not spend that time glaring at me or otherwise engaging me in other negative interactions, but whether the development of his and Dr. Winkle's relationship is positive is yet to be seen. It is not as though I should be expected to _like _someone whose line of research is most likely squandering Cal Tech's finances and whose humor is so crude that she is forced to resort to profanity to get her point across." Sheldon said thoughtfully with a small frown.

It made Penny laugh for some reason. In the four months they had been officially dating, he still was no closer to figuring out the motivation behind many of her actions, though he knew that he'd always keep striving to figure it all out. He wouldn't have risen to the top of his profession with any less of his drive for obtaining knowledge and truth that he possessed.

"Sometimes our friends will date people we don't like. You should get used to it." she said with a little smirk, reaching out with the hand that wasn't holding her paintball gun to lightly brush the back of his fingers on his similarly free hand.

Sheldon's lips couldn't help but twitch upward at the light touch, immediately feeling happier just due to her presence. Perhaps Leonard was being extremely illogical in dating Leslie Winkle, given their conflicting ideologies regarding the origin of the universe, but he knew that his relationship with Penny was the most right thing of his life.

Now he couldn't picture what his life would be like without her around. He used to think that the perfect world would leave him alone to do his research without any outside influence, but as he got older, he realized that having his friends, and now Penny, in his life was absolutely essential. It was true that he butted heads with all of them over one thing or another at times, but not having any of them in his life would leave him terribly lonely.

Though, he'd never admit to any of it out loud. He had a logical face to maintain with the people in his life, and he didn't want to give them the idea that Penny had been rubbing off on him as much as she had. His thoughts were broken when she grabbed his hand to bring his attention back to her and pull him over to a spot behind a tree that afforded them some cover and spoke quietly, "We'll wait for the Math department here. They're not going to get the jump on us this time."

Sheldon just nodded and waited with her, knowing that she'd be doing most of the shooting while he concentrated on more covert operations, basically hiding behind trees while Penny took care of anyone they happened to come across. The two of them waited silently, until they started hearing some sounds in the brush ahead.

She nodded at him quietly and kept her gun cocked and ready. Sheldon, on the other hand, ducked behind the nearest tree and kept out of sight, but he made sure he could keep watching her, as he found her of a strange kind of beauty as she shot people down mercilessly with her paintball gun. As the unsuspecting people of the math tasted her wrath, he just watched her carefully. He was surprised that, for once, his analytical mind was at rest.

He was proud to say that he wasn't usually taken in solely by an object's aesthetic beauty, but he'd long conceded that Penny was one of a kind. Her passion for life had to be commended and over the time he knew her, he had to say he admired her for it. As the last of the math people went down, he contemplated the relationship between them.

Love had always been an entity he had always turned his back on, feeling as though it was an unnecessary and illogical distraction from the important things in life, namely Physics, video games, comics, and Star Trek. But, through some stroke of luck, Penny had worked her way into his life, and now he knew he would keenly feel her absence were she ever to leave.

Love...When Penny determined that she had finished the rest of the competitors off, she lifted up her mask, gave him a mischievous grin, and then playfully blew over the top of her paintball gun. Sheldon still would not declare himself an expert on the emotion, at least not until he'd gotten a minimum of three papers published on the subject, but his breath hitched as he gave her a small smile in response.

He knew in that moment that he loved her, for all that she was and for all that she'd pushed him into being. Looking around him in a quick cursory glance, he then also lifted off his own mask and put down his gun, reaching out to grab her hand as she gave him a curious look.

He gulped in nervousness, but he pushed forward with what he had to say, knowing that waiting never made the act any less nerve wracking.

"Penny..." his voice was quiet but heartfelt as he gave her his confession, "I love you. As sure as the refraction of light into all of its different wavelengths when it hits a glass prism, I love you."

Then, with great hesitance, as he still was not much good at public affection, he leaned forward to kiss her softly. He'd come to understand, from all of the romantic movies that Penny had conned him into watching, that some form of physical affection had to accompany a declaration of love, and he definitely wasn't one to break precedent.

When he finally pulled back, the smile on Penny's face was so bright that his heart skipped a beat, and she replied, "Oh, honey...I love you, too."

She let her gun drop to the floor and she threw her arms around his neck to give him a far more enthusiastic kiss, which he gladly accepted. Sure, he didn't much like public displays of affection, but he would grant an exception in this case. She held the embrace and kiss for a long moment, until she pulled back and said, "Come on, we should go find the others."

She replaced her mask and picked up her gun, and Sheldon did the same. As they began to walk in the direction of their base, Penny reached out to grab his hand. Sheldon gripped back tightly, knowing that no matter what the future held, there was very little that would make him want to let that hand go.


End file.
